James Vigilante: Veteran, Bird Lover, Bike Enthusiast

When Patch stopped by the township municipal building, many from different departments shared their memories of James Vigilante, whose death from a heart attack Sunday morning at the age of 49 came as a shock to many.

Vigilante was a U.S. Air Force Reserves Master Sgt., Morris County Republican Committee member and former Parsippany Town Councilman. Everyone remembered different aspects of him, from his passion for birds and motorcycles to his sense of humor and big heart.

If you missed his visiting hours on Wednesday, you can still stop by Thursday from 4 - 8 p.m. at Par Troy Funeral Home to pay your respects. Relatives and friends are invited to attend his Liturgy of Christian Burial to be offered at 11 a.m. on Friday at Saint Peter the Apostle R.C. Church at 179 Baldwin Road, Parsippany and his cremation will be private, according to Par Troy Funeral Home.

In lieu of flowers, make donations in his memory to The Wounded Warrior Project.  370 7th Avenue (Suite 1802), New York, NY 10001.

A Proud Veteran

Vigilante was part of the Air Force and had several tours in Afghanistan.

“One of my fond memories of Jimmy was when he came home from Afghanistan on this last tour and made sure that one of the first stops that he made when he was home, was here … me and the boss here, we always sent him care packages when he was overseas,” Rob Pizza of the township’s zoning office.

He added that they had school-aged children in the district and “it was nothing for Jimmy to get into his uniform and go into the school and do special presentations for the children, so much so that when my kids found out (about Vigilante’s death) … they both said they have to go” to the wake and the funeral. “He made a tremendous impression on all the school children. If there was ever hometown hero, that was Jimmy.”

Terry Coletta, the township’s fire protection subcode official, had a soft spot for Vigilante’s service in the airforce.

“He was a reservist. That was one thing we had in common. He was an Air Force reservist and i was a Navy reservist. We were both deployed overseas,” said Coletta.

“Jimmy and I, we were friends, we were bikers, I respected Jimmy as a vet, something I’m not,” said Ron Ferrari, head of the building department. “I always wanted to be (a vet), but I missed that boat.”

A Man Who Loved to Ride

America’s 9/11 Foundation Inc.’s annual commemorative motorcycle ride is in remembrance those who lost their lives in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. On its website, it reads:

“WITH A SAD NOTE James Vigilante has passed away this morning Sunday 17 Nov. Viewing is at Par Troy Funeral Home 95 Parsippany Rd, Parsippany, NJ 07054 Wake times 20 Nov from 500-800pm and 21 Nov from 400-800pm ~ Condolences to the Vigilante Family ~”

Vigilante was known for his passion for motorcycles.

“I’ve been on motorcycle rides with Jim and he’s quite the character,” said Ferrari. “He just bought a new one, a brand new one just a month or two ago. I think he got to ride it a few times.”

Ferrari said that Vigilante was very active with America’s 9/11 Foundation Inc.’s annual commemorative motorcycle ride, which stops at each of the 9/11 crash sites.

“The motorcycle run is three days and you stay in hotels along the way. You start in Shanksville, PA, which is where flight 93 crashed and then you go to the site of the World Trade Center. Then you go to the Pentagon,” said Ferrari. “I road with Jim in that a couple years ago.”

Ferrari added that last year’s 9/11 freedom run was when Vigilante had his accident.

“He crashed to avoid hitting somebody else. He put himself in front of him. He could have very easily taken the other guy out, but Jimmy had a split-second decision and … Jimmy chose to go down,” said Ferrari.

“Last year he had that motorcycle accident and had surgery on his shoulder. He was big into his motorcycles,” said Miller.

“He had a bad motorcycle accident last year. He took this spill and got right back on the bike. (The other bikers) said, ‘Jimmy, you have to go to the hospital.’ He said, ‘No, I can make it.’ He was in such pain … he was all messed up (but) he wanted to finish the ride,” said Coletta, adding that Vigilante, “was out of commission for weeks.” “He’s definitely not a quitter,” added Coletta.

Birds, Smiles and Laughs

“He had a room upstairs in his house that was dedicated to birds,” said Coletta.

“He loved his birds, parrots and other birds that talked. He had a bunch of them, four or five of them. He had an aviary made in his house. He had trees on the walls,” said Leslie Miller, from the township’s clerk office.

“He had so many funny stories. One of them, he was in the shower and the UPS man knocked on the door and the bird said, ‘Come In’ … so the UPS man actually went in the house, so Jimmy comes out and says, ‘what are you doing in my house?’ said Miller with a laugh.

Coletta and Ferrari shared a good laugh over a memory of Vigilante and his life-size lawn figurines of a police officer and cow.

Coletta said that one day Vigilante found that someone had come to his house and placed the cow and officer in an inappropriate position.

“So Jimmy said, ‘Ah, I have to put the cow away for a while because the police officer was doing bad things to him,’” said Coletta with a laugh.

“He took care of his body. He enjoyed having a couple of drinks and beers with his friends,” said Ferrari, added that he was very social and had many friends.

Miller laughed and added that she remembered his big appetite.

“He liked to eat too. He can eat like you can’t believe; he could eat you out of house and home,” she said smiling. “We had a bowl of grapes on the table and he demolished the entire thing.”