Longtime South Jersey port leader Joseph Balzano dies

Joseph A. Balzano, executive director of the South Jersey Port Corp., whose waterfront career spanned 60 years in Camden, died at his home in Woodbury on Wednesday night, surrounded by family, after battling leukemia for several years.

He was born in Camden and devoted his life to the city and to charities, including the Heart of Camden Housing and Sacred Heart Church, where one of his closest friends was Msgr. Michael Doyle, the pastor.

Mr. Balzano, 77, was remembered for his generosity, driving the cloistered Dominican nuns in Camden to doctors' appointments, and mowing the grass so the nuns would have a place for devotions.

"He gave not only of his money, but also his time and talents," said the Rev. Anthony Cataudo, chaplain at the Monastery of Perpetual Rosary on Haddon Avenue in Camden.

"I don't think there was anybody who ever met Joe who didn't like him. Everything he did came from his heart."

Mr. Balzano began at the port in 1951 as an office clerk and equipment operator and rose to become acting superintendent and dock superintendent. In 1988, he was named executive director and CEO of the state agency.

Through Democratic and Republican administrations, he stayed in the job, guiding the South Jersey port from 500,000 tons of cargo in 1968 to more than 4 million tons, port corporation board chairman Dick Alaimo said.

"He would work 14, 18 hours, weekends and holidays. He used to sleep in his office," said Jay Jones, spokesman for the port corporation.

"He had a tremendous work ethic," said Mr. Balzano's son, Joseph W. "He will be remembered most for his contributions to the port and to the city of Camden. He was influential in bringing the USS New Jersey battleship to the port as a museum. That was something he was very proud of."

Robert Palaima, president of the Delaware River Stevedores, said Mr. Balzano "was the only port leader who had the unquestioned trust of labor. He had an affection for people who worked at the port that was so unique for a port leader."

"He put the port of Camden on the map around the world," Palaima said. "You can travel to South Asia, Africa, or Europe and people will know Camden, N.J., for its port because of what he accomplished with bringing cocoa, steel, and plywood to the Delaware River."

Mr. Balzano was an original trustee of the Heart of Camden Housing and Community Development, which renovates abandoned houses and "puts people living in them," Father Doyle said. "He had a brilliance about him. I used to say he was a genius."

Politicians came and went, and Mr. Balzano was like Ol' Man River, who just keeps rolling along, Father Doyle said. "He could manage his way through all the land mines of political maneuvering, and yet he wasn't a political person. His focus was the port, the expansion of it, and putting people to work.

"The other side of him was he helped very poor people in this neighborhood, taking them shopping in his car, or taking their children shopping. Not just at Christmas, but anytime.

"We shared a lot of time and talk together. He was a genius and a giant and he had the heart of a child," Father Doyle said. "He came to Ireland with me twice, in 1988 and 1995. I have a picture of Joe Balzano standing with our cows on the farm where I was born."

Three years ago, Mr. Balzano was diagnosed with leukemia. It was in remission until December, and late in the summer he suffered health complications.

In addition to his son, he is survived by a daughter, Karen Salerno; his wife, Donna; six stepchildren; two grandchildren; brothers Gus, Jerry, and Frank; sister Lucille Wilhelm; and nieces, nephews, and godchildren.

There will be a 24-hour viewing beginning at 11 a.m. Monday, Oct. 24, at Sacred Heart Church, Broadway and Ferry Avenue. A Funeral Mass will be said at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 25. The family will receive visitors from 4 to 6 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Monday and from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Tuesday. Burial will be in Calvary Mausoleum, Cherry Hill.