Obituary of Joseph John Bellace

 Joseph Bellace, Telecommunications Analyst at Merrill Lynch & Co, a longtime Little Falls, NJ resident and Hilton Head Island transplant, passed at 84.

     Growing up in South Philadelphia, Almonesson and Collingswood, NJ, the son of first-generation parents from Sicily, Joe Bellace always valued education.

 

His parents, Rose and John Bellace never got a chance to attend high school, as they needed to work to help their families. Joe graduated Collingswood High School in 1954 and became the first in his family to go to college.

 

      After graduating from Bucknell University in 1960 with bachelor's degrees in economics and mechanical engineering, he accepted a position in RCA Corp. 's defense communications division. Several years later he decided that he would rather pursue a career that allowed him to use his background in economics in a more creative and challenging environment.

 

     He enrolled in the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, earned an MBA and then worked in data communications marketing at AT&T Corporation. Soon afterwards, he set out for Wall Street to cover the telecommunications industry from a different vantage point — that of the sell-side analyst. Bellace worked at several smaller firms before joining Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith in 1983. Two years later he debuted on the All-America Research Team as the second-place analyst in Telecommunications Equipment; from 1985 through 1998, the year before he left the firm (whose name by then had changed to Merrill Lynch), he appeared in the rankings 19 times, including 11 first-place finishes.

 

     Telecommunications, like equity research, was undergoing its own transformation in those years. "When I started there was one sector and one analyst me," he recalls. "When I finished there were three: Telecommunications Equipment, Wireless Equipment and Data Networking," according to Bellace in a 2011 interview with Institutional Investor. By the end of time at Merrill Lynch, he was covering 27 companies and overseeing a staff of five — with whom he readily shares the credit for his success: "One person alone never could have accomplished this. It was, as my wife puts it, a terrific team," he says.

 

     After he left Merrill, Bellace worked as an independent consultant covering the telecommunications equipment sector for Jefferies & Co. and served as an adviser to the equity research department of Oakland, California—based investment bank Internet Securities. Joe retired to Hilton Head Island, SC with his wife of 54 years, Louise (nee Basso). He remained quite active in the Indigo Run community, working out every day at the gym, playing tennis and chatting with friends and strangers alike. Much of his day was spent researching market trends, health and fitness, but despite his years working with telecommunications companies, he never carried a cell phone. "Jersey Joe," as he was affectionately known, loved to listen to live music at the Jazz Corner and go to lunch with his buddies, the MOTO's.

 

     Mr. Bellace died on Dec 5, 2020 at a Memorial University Hospital in Savannah, shortly after a fall at his home in Hilton Head Island, SC.

 

     In addition to his wife, he is survived by his sons, Michael and Matthew Bellace, their wives Antoinette and Dara, respectively, and three beloved grandchildren, Roy, Sidney, and Mateo. He was predeceased by his brother Victor.

 

     Due to the present-day health restrictions for the safety of all, no formal services will take place at this time. Donations given to your favorite charity or cause in his name would honor his memory.