Obituary of Belinda Venancio

Belinda Venancio, 74, of Perkasie, PA, formerly of New Jersey passed away on Monday, March 17, 2025 at her residence after a hard fought 15 year battle with pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer.  She was the loving wife of Nancy Ghilardi for over 40 years.  Belinda was born in Newark, NJ to the late Clarimundo "Larry" Venancio, Sr. and the late Emilia (Frade) Venancio.  In addition to her parents, Belinda is also predeceased by her sister Celia Venancio Orlowski, her nephew Roy Robert Orlowski and her sister in law Patricia Ghilardi Norton.

She was a graduate of North Arlington High School, North Arlington, NJ, class of 1968.  In 1972, Belinda graduated from Montclair State College in Montclair, NJ and went to earn her M.A. from Eastern Kentucky University.  While at Eastern Kentucky University, Belinda was a women's AIAW basketball official.  Belinda had a multifaceted career which began as an Assistant Athletic Director and women's basketball coach at Fordham University.  She was also the basketball and softball coach at Summit High School in Summit, New Jersey before accepting the position of Assistant Athlectic director and women's basketball coach at Ramapao College in Mahwah, NJ.  Belinda later transitioned into a career as an IT Professional for AT&T, Lucent Technologies and Avaya before finishing her career at Merck for the past 18 years.  Belinda was an outstanding athete in basketball, softball and volleyball.  For six years, she played Class A Fast Pitch Softball (Linden Arians) and played on state champion AAU basketball teams.  She won numerous M.V.P. and all Tourney Team awards.  She was inducted into North Arlington High School Hall of Fame in 1999. Belinda was an avid sports fan, especially enjoying football and basketball and was Joe Montana's number one fan.  Anyone who knew Belinda knew she loved everything Portuguese....food, music, and the culture.  Besides being survived by her beloved wife Nancy, Belinda is survived by her brother Clarimundo "Larry" Venancio, Jr. (Judi), her sister in law Gail Cree (Doug Halpern) and brother in law Glenn Ghilardi (Sue).  She is also survived by many nephews and nieces: Anthony Venancio (Maryann), Clarimundo "Larry" Venancio III, Stacy Orlowski, Robert Orlowski, (Morgan), Emily Norton Merferd (Kiel), Lucas Norton (Kat), Lydia Norton, Sarah Ghilardi, Jenna Ghilardi and Jesse Ghilardi.  Belinda is also survived by the little joys in her life, her Grand nephews and nieces: Joseph DiMascio, Matthew Venancio, Mason Orlowski, Maverick Norton Jensen, Finley Merfeld, Hannah Orlowski and Mattie Merfeld.  Belinda will be missed dearly by her wife, family, friends and colleagues.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend the memorial visitation at Nazare Memorial Home, Inc., 403 Ridge Road, Lyndhurst, NJ on Saturday, March 29, 2025 from 10 AM - 1 PM.  A Memorial Service will begin at 11:45 AM.  In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Cycle for Survival, 633 3rd Avenue, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10017 or online by clicking here.  Kindly enter Nancy Ghilardi where prompted to search for a participant to access the donation page.  You may express your condolences to Belinda's family by using our tribute wall.