Harold Bellis, longtime Phillipsburg football coach and educator, dies

Harold Bellis, the legendary Phillipsburg High School football coach and math teacher, died this morning at his home. He was 93.

Friends of Bellis said the lifetime Phillipsburg resident had been hospitalized recently and had been in failing health.

Phil Rohm, who taught in the high school’s math department with Bellis, said Bellis’ death was not just a personal loss for him but for the hundreds of lives Bellis touched as the Stateliners' head football coach from 1954-67 and in his tenure as a math teacher from 1947-78.

“He is a treasure,” Rohm said. “Coach Bellis is a treasure to the town. If more people could live their lives like him the world would be a better place.”

Bellis’ impact on the community was so great that in 2007 the school board voted to name the field at Maloney Stadium after him.

As a Phillipsburg student, Bellis was captain of the 1933 undefeated football squad. He coached two undefeated teams during his tenure.

Bellis also coached baseball for 26 years.

Bob Stem, who played under Bellis as a student and is the current Stateliner head coach, said he learned as much about life from Bellis as he did about football.

“He had a tremendous influence on me,” Stem said. “When he spoke, you listened to him. He had an aura about him.”

Viewing hours will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Finegan Funeral Home, 302 Heckman St., Phillipsburg. Services and burial will be private.

From The Express Times