Robert J. Isabella, a municipal trader and underwriter for nearly 40 years, died at home in Little River, S.C., on June 24. He was 76.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1942, Mr. Isabella was a long time resident of that borough as well as Staten Island, before retiring to South Carolina in 2015.
He began his career in 1970 as an assistant trader at the New York branch of Continental Illinois Bank and later joined Prescott, Ball, Turbin.
In the early 1980s, he led trading and underwriting at the former Shearson American Express, as was head of the New York office of trading and sales at Banc One Capital Markets.
Mr. Isabella was known for being a savvy, yet fair and honest businessman, according to colleague William Ludolph, a senior municipal trader at Charles Schwab in Jersey City, N.J.
“His trading style was biased toward swapping and staying under the radar screen,” said Ludolph, who worked as a municipal underwriter for many years alongside Mr. Isabella, most recently at Banc One. “He was both creative and unorthodox, While considered somewhat eccentric, Bob was a model of integrity and always considerate of everyone who worked with or for him.”
He was a graduate of St. John’s University.
Mr. Isabella’s wife Nancy predeceased him.
He is survived by his daughter, Nancy.
The funeral will be held Friday, July 13, from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at John Vincent Scalia Home for Funerals in Staten Island, with a noon mass at Holy Child R.C. Church, also in Staten Island.
