James V Tigani Jr

On Sunday, November 20, 2022, James V. Tigani, II, passed away peacefully at the age of 85. Jimmy, as he was more fondly known, was born on July 10, 1937, and raised in Wilmington, Delaware by beloved parents James V. Tigani and Betty Singley Tigani. After graduating from the Salesianum School in 1954, he attended LaSalle University, and then earned a law degree from Georgetown Law School in 1961. Jimmy passed the Illinois state bar and moved to Chicago to begin his law career working for Leo Barnett Co., Advertising Agency. His time in Chicago was short-lived when his father, Jim Sr., called needing his help with their growing family business, N.K.S. Distributors, Inc. Jimmy agreed to move back east settling in Philadelphia’s Society Hill. He excelled in the family’s wine and spirits division. Over his forty-five-year career, he would eventually lead N.K.S., until 1999, along with his brother Bob. Until 2009, Jimmy was also President of Century Wines & Spirits and Delaware Beverage Company, owning and managing the businesses with trusted partners and loyal friends Leo Renzette and Bob Trostel. In the late eighties, he moved to Wilmington to live with his then-ailing mother, Betty. Jimmy embraced his role as uncle to nephews Bobby, Jr. and Chris. In 1995, Jimmy met Mark Bennett. They hit it off and almost instantly, they were a team. From Wilmington to Nantucket to Florida’s East Coast and many places in between, they supported each other through it all. Eventually, they settled in Palm Beach where Jimmy became a member of The Beach Club and The Gentlemen of the Garden, while maintaining his membership at the Greenville Country Club in Delaware. A devout Catholic, Jimmy was preceded in death by his father Jim Sr. (2004), and his mother, Betty (1990). Jimmy is survived by his long-term partner of 26 years, Mark Bennett; brother Robert F. Tigani, Sr., and wife Linda; nephew Robert F. Tigani Jr., and wife Amy; nephew Christopher Tigani and wife Patricia; two great nephews Christopher Jr. and John Louis Tigani, and a great niece Georgiana Frances Tigani.