Henry F. Bellaci MD, FACC

Henry F. Bellaci, MD, FACC

Rancho Mirage - Henry F. Bellaci, MD, FACC, age 75, of Rancho Mirage, passed away on August 21, 2018, after a long illness and suffering a massive stroke.

Born in New Orleans, and growing up in Independence, Louisiana, he was the son of the late Isadore and Josephine (Levatino) Bellaci, and husband to Jeanette Bellaci.

Dr. Bellaci studied pre-med at South Eastern Louisiana University, graduating with a BS in 1965, continuing on to receive his MD from LSU Medical School in 1969 and completing his internship, residency and fellowship in the US Army, at William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso, TX and Letterman Army Medical Center, Presidio of San Francisco in California from 1969-1978. Dr. Bellaci was Board Certified in 1973 in Internal Medicine, and in 1975 the subspecialty of Cardiovascular Diseases, before receiving an honorable discharge in 1978, achieving the Rank of Lt. Colonel; and in 1983, he was inducted into the American College of Cardiology.

Henry loved teaching and was an Educational Lecturer from 1978 until his retirement in 2015. He served from 1976 to 1988 at UCSF Medical Center, as Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine and later, Associate Clinical Professor. From 1979 to 1989, Henry went into private practice, joining Redwood Cardiology, in Castro Valley, California, and was on staff at 8 hospitals, and the Director of 2 ICU's.

On October 20, 1984 Henry married Jeanette (Mabus) Drake and joined their two families to become a family of 7; 1 son and 4 daughters, and countless cats and dogs.

In 1989, Henry and Jeanette moved to Rancho Mirage, California where Henry became Chief of Staff for Desert Medical Group. In 1997, the cardiology department was outsourced to Los Angeles Cardiology Associates; where he remained on staff until 2007. Henry served as Chairman of the Education Committee at Desert Regional Medical Center and later served as Chief of Staff, from 2004-2006. Henry also served on various committees while he was a staff cardiologist at Eisenhower Medical Center. In 2007, he returned to Desert Oasis HealthCare (previously known as Desert Medical Group) where he helped to develop a very successful Congestive Heart Failure Clinic; this was a dream come true. Due to health reasons, Henry reluctantly retired from medicine in 2015.

His hobbies included music, singing, dancing, reading, teaching, astronomy, poetry, good wines, good friends - Henry made it a point to stay in touch with friends many dating back to his early childhood, swimming and golf. Henry loved watching many different sports, and following everything LSU - he was known as a raging LSU football fan.

He is survived by his wife Jeanette of 33 years and his blended family, son Christopher (Lorelee) Bellaci; step-daughter Angela (Scott) Macedo; daughter Jeannine (Michael Barron) Bellaci; daughter Rachelle (Alfonso) Sanchez and step-daughter Trish (Doug) Daley and his eight grandchildren, Britney and Drake Daley; Parker and Stella Macedo; Amanda and Anthony Sanchez and Scarlett and Evelyn Barron; his brother Ike (Valorie) Bellaci, sisters Laura Davis and Mary (Randy) Kinsey; cousins, nieces and nephew and many friends and colleagues.

A Celebration of Life Service will be held October 20, 2018 at 1:00pm at Eisenhower Medical Center, Annenberg Center for Health Sciences, 39000 Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage, California. Reception immediately following.

Donations may be made to organizations Henry was passionate about, including your local Animal Shelter; BestFriends.org; mealsonwheels.org; Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind; Cancer Research Institute-New York, NY; Wounded Warriors Family Support, Omaha, Neb; suicidepreventionlifeline.org; American Heart Association.