Robert Baldini

1930 - 2024

October 29, 1930 - June 26, 2024


Robert (Bob) Baldini, 93, passed away peacefully in his Madison, New Jersey home on June 26, 2024. Relatives and friends are invited to attend the funeral wake service and visitation to be held on Sunday, July 7 from 2-4 PM and 6-8 PM at the William A. Bradley Funeral Home, 345 Main Street, Chatham, NJ and the funeral liturgical mass on Monday, July 8 at 10:30 AM at St. Vincent Martyr Church, 26 Green Village Road, Madison, NJ 07940. Interment will follow at St. Vincent Martyr Cemetery located at the corner of Noe Avenue and Shunpike Road in Madison.

Bob is predeceased by his beautiful wife Jean and beloved son Robert. Bob is survived by his daughter Janine Bland, and husband Jeff of Spring Lake, NJ; daughter Vivienne Carr and husband Brian, of Naples, FL; four grandchildren Jessica Bland, Lauren Panzarella, Jeffrey Bland and Katherine Carr; four great-grandchildren, Augustine and Emersyn Bland, and Nicholas and Oliver Panzarella.

Bob was born in Queens, NY to Pauline and Ludwig Baldini, and he lived with his family in Brooklyn, NY. Bob lost his father at age 11, and to memorialize his father, an engineer, he was determined to make a name for himself. Bob was a soccer player and attended Seton Hall University on a full athletic scholarship in 1949. He completed his undergraduate Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Business, received the honor award for achievement from the Cross and Crescent and the Marketing Medal for earning the highest grade point average in his major. He also was a member of the Knights of Setonia, which was a student group devoted to weekly mass at the Seton Hall University Chapel. Bob prayed daily at the Chapel and deepened his commitment to his Catholic faith during his years at Seton Hall. Bob graduated in three and a half years and returned to New York to marry Jean, his high-school sweetheart and best friend, in April of 1953.

In June of 1953, Bob was drafted by the United States Army and served his country for over two years. Thereafter, he returned to Jean in Brooklyn, NY and began his distinguished pharmaceutical career at Pfizer & Company. While there, he also attended New York University (NYU) and completed his Masters of Business Administration (MBA) in 1957.

Bob rose through the ranks to top executive positions having served the pharmaceutical industry for over a half century. He worked at Geigy pharmaceuticals in Ossining, NY; later the company merged to become Ciba-Geigy pharmaceuticals in Summit, New Jersey. While Bob and Jean started their family in New York with their three children, they lived most of their married life in New Jersey. It was in 1982 that the family moved to Florida when Bob joined Key Pharmaceuticals in Miami. While the company was small at the time, Bob's aspirations for the company were large. He was directly responsible for the development of two cardiovascular products employing innovative drug delivery systems while building a sales force and marketing organization to promote them. These products rose to become number-one ranked pharmaceutical products in their respective markets under his stewardship.

In 1989, Key Pharmaceuticals then merged with Schering-Plough Corporation and the family returned to New Jersey. Under Bob's leadership as President, sales grew well beyond a billion dollars and Key became known as a leader in developing new drug delivery systems in the respiratory and cardiovascular market with one of the most innovative marketing approaches in the industry.

Bob continued to share his experience, leadership and mentorship as the Vice Chairman, Chief of Sales and Marketing Officer at Kos Pharmaceuticals where he again built a sales and marketing organization to support a revolutionary cholesterol-lowering product. He also served as Vice Chairman for Ascent Pharmaceuticals, and served on the boards of Arisaph Pharmaceuticals, Espirit Pharma, and K-V Pharmaceutical Company. Bob later served as an expert legal witness, drawing on over fifty years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry.

Bob was also generous with his time and talents and dedicated himself to serving on the board of directors for Seton Hall University Board of Regents and Pharma Connect. He also served on the National Pharmaceutical Council, the American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education and the Pharmaceutical Advertising Council. Bob was honored to receive Seton Hall University's Most Distinguished ""Many are One"" Alumnus Award in 2000, the Arthritis Foundation's Humanitarian of the Year Award in 1997, the ""Hall of Fame"" Award from the Seton Hall Stillman School of Business in 2009, and he was inducted into the Medical Advertising Hall of Fame in 2008.

In addition to giving of his time and talents professionally, Bob gave generously to several philanthropic endeavors, including the Arthritis Foundation, Covenant House, the American Cancer Society, Colonial Symphony, Saint Vincent Martyr Church, Saint William Church, the Naples Opera and Philharmonic, Seton Hall University, New York Broadway Productions of Beautiful and Fiddler on the Roof, and the Knights of Columbus.

While he remained tirelessly dedicated to his industry and to service as a natural-born leader, mentor and advisor, Bob found his greatest joy with his wife of 58 years, family, and friends. Bob enjoyed traveling, hosting dinners with family and friends, enjoying classical music, cheering on Notre Dame Football, diving into history books, and learning Italian. Bob was proud to be a ""true New Yorker"" and loved cheering on the New York Rangers, Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees. Bob always offered to help others with a positive attitude and a hand on the shoulder. His sense of humor, kindness, loyalty, faith and dynamic spirit were gifts to those lucky to know and love him.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in the memory of Robert Edward Baldini to the Baker NCH Heart Institute, the American Heart Association, and Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS).