Born in Tel Aviv on November 18, 1935, Jimmy emigrated to the United States as a teenager, eventually settling in Newark, NJ. It was there that he met his future wife Louise (née Corin.) Jimmy and Louise moved to Livingston in 1962, where he founded Roseville Tool and Manufacturing Corporation.

Jimmy was the loving dad to children Donna Levy (Orin), Susan Moore (Jeff), and Michael Schuftan (Laurie); and the adoring grandfather to Nicole, Danielle, and Justin Levy, Jennifer and Steven Moore, and Joshua and David Schuftan.