Bear Stearns, the 85-year-old Wall Street bank, has ceased to exist.

Bear Stearns (BSC) shareholders approved JPMorgan Chase's (JPM) purchase of the firm for a somewhat symbolic price of $10 a share on Thursday. It brings a painful and abrupt end to the iconic firm, whose stock was worth as much as $154 a share one year ago.

Approximately 84% of the share voted in favor of the purchase, according to a statement by the firm.. The merger is scheduled to close at the end of business on Friday.

At the brief shareholders meeting, Bear Stearns Chairman Jimmy Cayne told shareholders and employees: "It's a sad day but we'll get through it, and we may be better off for it ... The company that is taking us over, or is merging with us, is a first-class company. ... That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger. By now we all must be Hercules. ... We ran into a hurricane.... There's no anger; there's simply remorse."

Cayne presided over the meeting. No questions or comments from the audience were allowed. 

In an situation that can only be described as awkward by observers, Cayne apologized to Bear's employees, who owned at the time of Bear's collapse approximately one-third of the firm. 

"(I am) sorry that this happened," he said. "Words alone can't describe the pain that I feel."

At the time of the meeting, JPMorgan owned a 49.5% stake in Bear making the vote a formality. 

Bear is considered the largest corporate casualty of the 2007 subprime mortgage crisis. Bear’s primary business for decades was fixed income and bonds. When th market for subprime mortgage securitzed bonds collapsed over the summer, so did the business of Bear Stearns.

More than half of Bear’s 14,000 employees have lost their jobs and their retirements -- often tied up in Bear stock options -- since the deal was hastily created on March 10. JPMorgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon, who helped create the deal, is said to have called his CEO colleagues at other Wall Street firms to get those former Bear employees placed into new jobs.

Sources told FOX Business that Bear's name and logo will be removed from its headquarters over the next several weeks. There is a possibility that Bear's name might live on through the retail brokerage or banking division of JPMorgan Chase. 

The deal between JPMorgan and Bear was hammered together with tools not used since the Great Depression. As part of the merger agreement, JPMorgan would guarantee the first $1 billion in mortgage-backed securities while the U.S. Government, through the Federal Reserve, guaranteed the other $29 billion. 

When the deal was originally created that famous March weekend, JPMorgan and Bear agreed to a market-stunning price of $2 a share, but there were problems with the original merger agreement regarding JPMorgan's guarantee of Bear's business. The deal was recast two weeks later, and the  price was raised to $10 a share. 

JPMorgan shares were up $1.96, or 0.82%, to $43.65 in mid-day trading. Bear  was up 18 cents to $9.56 a share.