A Greenville native, Hal DeCell was reared in Vicksburg. He attended the University of Alabama and the University of Mississippi, served in the Merchant Marines during World War II in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Pacific areas.
He and his wife, the former Carolyn Cook of Pontotoc, bought the Deer Creek Pilot in Rolling Fork in 1949.
DeCell won state, national and international awards, including the first Gold Quill Award of Excellence in Editorial Writing from the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors in 1961, and the Silver Em at the University of Mississippi in 1965. His newspaper was named the best small weekly in the nation in 1960. He also won a long list of awards from the Mississippi Press Association, University of Southern Mississippi, National Editorial Association, and International Conference of Weekly Editors.
DeCell served in the administration of Gov. J. P. Coleman from 1956 through 1959.
