James, Jim (Big Jim) Vielandi was born in The Kingsbridge section of the Bronx in 1958, to Jo and Rita Vielandi, second oldest of 4 boys.  From the late 50’s through the early 70’s, his family summered at Sandy Hook in The Highlands, NJ.

Jim graduated All Hallows High School in The Bronx in 1975.  His family started summering in Rockaway Beach, Queens in the late 70’s, and he made a permanent move there in the mid 1980’s.  There he met his wife, Jenny Diaz Vielandi where in 1998 they married.  Partly fueled by their love of antiques, they made the move to Slate Hill in Orange County in 2007.  Also in 2007, they opened The Country Bum’kin Antiques in Mongaup Valley, New York, Sullivan County. They grew to love Sullivan County and purchased a seasonal home in Smallwood in 2011 where they moved year-round in 2016. Jim began his working career as a painter on the General Motors Assembly line when he was just 18 and retired from there when the Tarrytown plant closed.  In 1996 he began working as a doorman/maintenance worker at 1158 5th Avenue in local 32Bj and continued there for 25 years.  He most recently began working in Tri Valley Schools.  Jim was raised a Catholic and had many brothers in the Rockaway Beach Council of The Knights of Columbus. When not working Jim could be found attending auctions or estate sales searching for “the find”. He loved his doggy companion Lucy and enjoyed being a pack parent and going for hikes with his fellow pack parents in the Smallwood Nature Reserve. He also loved hanging out on his back deck at his house in Smallwood, betting the horse races on his iPad and buying stock in Coors Light.

Jim is predeceased by his parents Joseph and Rita Vielandi (nee Donnellon), his brother Joseph Vielandi and his father-in-law Mickey Diaz. He is survived by his wife of 26 years, Jenny Vielandi (nee Diaz), his brother John F. Vielandi (Maureen), his brother Jeffrey M. Vielandi (Colleen), nephews John J. Vielandi, Devin Vielandi Crane and Brennan Vielandi Crane, mother in law Anna Lawshe and her partner Howard LeRoy, his loving Maryland cousins, other cousins, loving cousins-in-law, and many many friends from The Bronx, Rockaway Beach, Slate Hill, Bethel, his Knights of Columbus family and his many coworkers.

Visitation will be Sunday, February 25th at Colonial Ramsay Funeral Home, 3534 State Route 55, Kauneonga Lake, NY 12749 from 2 pm to 6 pm.  Religious services will be on February 26th at 11 am at the funeral home immediately followed by internment at Ridgebury Cemetery, 12 Ridgebury Hill Road, Slate Hill, NY.  A Memorial Mass will be held on March 16th at noon at St. Cammilus Church, 99-15 Rockaway Beach Blvd, Rockaway Park, NY 11694.

Flowers can be sent to the funeral home for Jim or donations in Jim’s name can be made to Retired Racehorse Project 3357, Hazelwood Rd, Edgewater, MD 21037. Arrangements are under the care of Colonial Ramsay Funeral Home, for further information please call 845-583-5445 or visit www.colonialbryantfuneralhome.com.