Obituary of James Benedict Volpicelli

JAMES (“JIM”) BENEDICT VOLPICELLI

James Benedict Volpicelli, age 65, of Great Falls, Virginia, died Thursday evening, October 5, 2023, at the Alder Hospice Center in Aldie, Virginia, after a months-long battle with cancer.

Jim was born on May 8, 1958, in Washington, D.C., to Andrea and Benedict Volpicelli. As a child, he was a gifted baseball and basketball player winning several county championships. In his senior year at Archbishop Carroll High School, in Washington, D.C., he joined the soccer team, even though he’d never played the sport before. He was starting fullback on the 1975 team that went 25-1 on their way to winning both the Washington Metro Catholic Athletic Conference Championship as well as the Independent League Championship. He was very proud to be inducted, along with his teammates, into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame.

In 1980, after graduating high school, he went on to earn an AA in Music from Pasadena City College in Pasadena, California. Later, in 1984, he earned a BS in Business Administration from California State University, Los Angeles, after which he pursued his lifelong passion for music by playing in a hard rock band called Sharks.

Jim was the bass guitarist and backup vocalist for Sharks from 1979 to 1985. At the time Sharks was one of the most popular bands on the L.A. rock scene, playing at all the major clubs, including The Whiskey, The Icehouse, The Roxy, and The Troubadour. Jim was known for his strong, melodic vocals and had a custom guitar with an air-brushed shark’s head and teeth painted at the end near the volume and tone knobs. The band released an independent album  “Altar Ego” in 1982 in addition to three singles—“Kid Sister,” “Your Car or Mine,” and “Hey.” The first two of these songs appeared on a unique triple-fin-shaped 45.

When Sharks changed its membership and its name to Shark Island in 1985, Jim co-wrote four of the new band’s songs, one of which, “Dangerous,” is on the soundtrack for the film “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.” It was a full circle moment and affirmation of the band’s impact in LA for Jim when the jukebox musical “Rock of Ages,” on Broadway, featured his band Sharks on the set’s marquee.

In 1985 Jim returned to the East Coast and, in 1987, he earned his MS in Taxation from Georgetown University. In 1986 he started his career as a staff person in the Tyson’s Corner office of Arthur Andersen. It was during a band practice for an in-house Andersen band that he met the love of his life, Debbie Bartolone, of Hammonton, New Jersey, who came to sing with the band. They married in Hammonton on November 18, 1989 and then began building their family, soon welcoming four amazing children Allison, Zachary, Natalie and Jason.

Jim was promoted to Partner at Andersen in 1999 and remained there until May 2002, when he joined Ernst & Young (EY) as a Partner after the regional merger of the Andersen and EY Audit and Tax Practices. He remained at EY until his retirement in June 2018. Jim then spent a year working as an Independent Consultant for EY before accepting a similar position at Andersen in October 2019. He joined Andersen as a Managing Director in 2021.

At both Andersen and EY, Jim was known to be a trusted partner and advisor, a market leader, and a mentor. He excelled at creating and maintaining relationships with his colleagues, partners, and clients. Jim was known in the industry and remembered by all his colleagues as a “master of client engagement and the king of networking who knew everyone in town and everyone knew him. He was an all-star and was always about ‘we’ and not about ‘me.’”

Jim managed a sizable portfolio, frequently numbering up to 60 clients at one time, handling emerging businesses as they went public and leading mergers and acquisitions. He was also a mentor to new employees, going to bat for them and in many instances changing the trajectories of their lives and careers for the better.

Of the many hats that Jim wore, “Coach” was the one he may have been mostly widely known by and definitely incredibly proud of.  Jim began coaching his own children in 1999 and continued coaching for nearly 25 years. Whether it be baseball or basketball, he loved the challenge of finding a winning strategy but, even more, he loved making sure every single kid on his team played a critical role and improved as a player while also learning valuable life and leadership skills.  When his own children had “graduated” from youth sports, Jim kept coaching his friends’ kids and served as a mentor assistant coach to teens wishing to learn the coaching ropes.  Jim achieved multiple championships and was part of the coaching team that helped bring the 2012 Great Falls Little League team to an ESPN appearance in the Little League World Series Regionals.  However, for all those accomplishments it was the friendships that he forged through helping shape the future of so many young men and women that brought him the greatest joy.

In his personal life Jim was devoted to his wife and children. He was a lifelong Washington Redskins (now Commanders) fan and attended Washington’s first Super Bowl Championship in L.A. in 1983.  As a child he was a diehard Washington Senators fan and was thrilled when the Nationals arrived in town. He was in the stadium on Opening Day for the Nationals and for their World Series Championship games. He continued to play bass guitar and sing in bands that included Teaser and Silverline, which covered multiple decades and a wide variety of artists. Along with his bandmates, he played gigs throughout the Greater Washington Metropolitan Area.

Jim is survived by his wife Debbie and his four children, Allison, Zachary, Natalie, and Jason; his brother Michael Volpicelli (Debra), and his three sisters, Susan Smith, Laurie Salser (Kevin), and Cheri Drain (Martin); numerous nieces, nephews and cousins; and too many friends to count. He is predeceased by both of his parents.

In keeping with Jim’s commitment to family and service, friends may make donations to either of two charities that were close to Jim’s heart as they were formed to honor the memory of two wonderful young men who were close family friends: Richard Stefanacci and Matt Poyner.

Go 4 the Goal’s (www.go4thegoal.org), mission is to make a difference in the lives of kids with cancer primarily through Ewing Sarcoma research and hospital renovation grants. The Matthew Vernon Poyner (MVP) Memorial Foundation (www.mvplegacy.org), primarily supports the dual purpose of funding myocarditis research and the training of service dogs for veterans.

A viewing has been scheduled for Thursday, October 12, 2023, from 5:00 pm until 8:00 pm, at the Adams-Green Funeral Home at 721 Elden Street in Herndon, Virginia, 20170. A mass will be held in Jim’s honor on Friday, October 13, 2023, at 3:00 pm, at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church, 1020 Springvale Road, Great Falls, Virginia, 22066 which will be followed by Celebration of Life at Riverbend Country Club in Great Falls.