James R. Aiello

of Pittsburgh, PA, passed away peacefully at home after a decades-long battle with Parkinson’s Disease on Tuesday afternoon, July 6th, 2021. Born April 21, 1939, a son of the late Rosario and Regina (Locante) Aiello. Jim was a student athlete in high school and college, he played football for Tulane University, where he graduated in 1961. Jim’s first job after college was at his grandparents’ Italian restaurant, Locante’s, which fed a lifelong love affair with food and the restaurant industry. He went on to open several of his own restaurants during his lifetime (the original Rico’s on West Liberty Ave., Jamie’s Upper Crust, Le Peep, and Sorriso). In his late twenties, Jim embarked on a successful and innovative career as an investment banker, instrumental in creating what became the national and tax-free bond financing alternative to the then traditional mortgages used to finance shopping center construction. A visionary, Jim was responsible for some of the Pittsburgh area’s biggest developments in the 1980s and early 1990s, including the Cherrington Golf Club and residential community, The Bourse Shops and office condominiums, and Rossi's Pop-Up market in North Versailles, as well as dozens of big box projects and strip centers around the country. Those projects stand as a testament to his lifelong commitment to hard-work and creativity. Jim is survived by his wife, Lisa (Gimigliano) Aiello, his daughter Jamie Aiello (Brad)  Beck of New Canaan, CT, his son, James R. Aiello, Jr. of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, FL, his two grandchildren, Kayla and Ford Beck, his sister, Frances (Scott) Webster, his nephews, Scott T. Webster, Jr. (Monica) of New Canaan, CT, and Jeffrey Webster (Meghan), of Charleston, SC, his stepchildren, Michelle Jenkins, Trey Jenkins (Josie), and Shayla Jenkins, his step-granddaughter, Genevieve Jenkins, and other extended family and friends. A Mass of Christian Burial will be Celebrated in Saint Bernard’s Church at 311 Washington Road, Mt. Lebanon, on Saturday morning, July 10th at 10:00. with a luncheon to follow at Rico’s Restaurant, 1 Rico Lane, in the North Hills. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

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