"It's really sad just to lose him as a person," Williams said. "I found him to be very kind and considerate and it's very sad to lose a really good judge."
Williams, who said suicide is a very serious problem in all aspects of society, including in the military where more people are lost to suicide than combat, said suicide makes people realize "we don't know what they were going through. We just wish we could reach out to them."
Woods-Skipper said that "ironically" this upcoming Friday's judicial educational program is about stress management and is part of the message of "judges concerned for judges."
Beloff's passing is causing people to have "a lot of reflection and general sadness," including about hidden signs of distress, Woods-Skipper said.
Beloff was elected in 2009 despite not having Democratic Party support. But Beloff secured the number-one ballot position.
In interviews with The Legal in 2009, Beloff said that his ballot position was not the most important thing in his judicial campaign. What was important, Beloff said, was that he had planned his campaign for over 10 years, including building a network, self-funding his campaign and building his resume to "really garner the votes of concerned involved voters."
Beloff's support varied from the Roofers Local 30 and Ironworkers Local 401, to the Muslim League of Voters, to the Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity.
"I'm trying to win this election so my 82-year-old dad [Stanley Beloff] can hold the Bible for me," Beloff said in 2009.
Beloff said he wanted to become a judge "before I knew what a lawyer was" after he was selected by his classmates at the age of 12 to be judge for a day in a mock election.
Prior to becoming a judge, Beloff, who was a certified mediator and arbitrator, practiced at family law firm Beloff & Hope with offices in Philadelphia and South Jersey. Beloff was a member of the Nicholas Cipriani American Inn of Court in Philadelphia and the Thomas S. Forkin Family Law American Inn of Court in Cherry Hill, N.J.
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