James Anthony Vitale Jr. (Jim) was born in Jersey City, N.J. on June 8th, 1933. His parents were Christine Marino Vitale and James Vitale Sr. He has a sister, Maryann Meyer and a brother, Gabe who was a Police Officer in Queens N.Y. in the 109 Precinct who died in the line of duty. He grew up and lived in College Point N.Y. for 83 years then moved to the Tampa, Florida area. He was in the United States Army from 1953 to 1955. He married Gertrude Kinzel Vitale in 1953 and they had 2 children, Laura Vitale (DeRosa) and James P. Vitale, who passed away in 2014. His wife Gertrude passed away in 2018. He attended St. Fidelis Catholic Elementary School, Rice High School and Graduated from Queens College.
Jim was very active in the College Point Community.
He was a part of the St. Fidelis Catholic Church Parish. There he was a member of the Nocturnal Adoration Society, the Knights of Columbus Council 1463 and an usher at the Saturday evening mass for many years. He also was a member of the College Point American Legion and bowled in a league at the College Lanes. He volunteered his time coaching baseball with the Little League and coaching football with College Point Athletic Association.
Jim was a founding member of the Samaritans Drum and Bugle Corps Marching Band.
Jim worked for Honeywell in the sales division for the federal government in the Tri-state area out of N.Y. After retiring he was an usher for the N.Y. Mets at Shea Stadium and Citi Field and the N.Y. Yankees during Spring Training at Legends Field in Tampa. He also worked yearly at the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament in Queens N.Y.
Jim was the loving Grandfather of Jennifer DeRosa Fields, Jessica DeRosa Tabordas, Steven Vitale and James P Vitale, who passed away in 2013. He treasures his 5 Great Grandchildren, Peyton and Colby Fields, Landon, Lawson and Lucille Ricketson. He has several cousins, Doloras Caffaso, and Billy and Joseph Johann along with many loving nieces and nephews. Jim will be very missed by his loving family and friends.