Nicola C. Lombardi, 78
Nicola Curwin Lombardi, an export and international marketing executive in the cosmetics industry, died at her East Hampton home on Nov. 14. She was 78, and had Lewy Body dementia for two years.
Known as Niki, Ms. Lombardi was born on March 13, 1940, in Crowborough, England, to the former Rita Gadoll and Alfred Curwin, who had moved to the East Sussex area during the bombing of London. She was reared in London after World War II, where she attended the Queen’s Gate school and graduated from the London School of Commerce with a degree in general business. She had also gone to finishing school in Paris, where she became fluent in French and Italian.
In 1961, she went to work for the Revlon International Corporation. Ten years later, she moved to New York where she joined Charles of the Ritz, cosmetics and perfume company, and developed marketing strategies for Yves Saint Laurent and Jean Nate. Her work entailed traveling, which she loved, and in 1972 she met Joe Lombardi during s ski weekend upstate. They were married in 1973 at the Kensington Registry office in London.
Ms. Lombardi and her husband moved to East Hampton full time in 2000. She had been a member of the East Hampton Trails Preservation Society since 1999, earning the organization’s president’s award in 2003 for having arranged its social events for four years.
In 1985, Ms. Lombardi launched Provender International, which imported preserves, chutneys, teas, and biscuits from her brother’s company in England and sold them to specialty food shops and by mail order. She sold the business in 1999, but continued to represent some of the brands until retiring in 2015. Her daughter, Lauren Piver of East Hampton, now runs the company.
She is survived by her husband and daughter, a stepmother, Doreen Curwin of Stanmore, England, a brother, John Curwin of Keswick, England, and by two grandchildren, two stepbrothers, and two nephews. The Rev. Ryan Creamer of Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in East Hampton will lead a celebration of her life on March 2 at the Neighborhood House.
Donations in her memory have been suggested to the Lewy Body Dementia Resource Center, 750 West Broadway, Suite 2R, Long Beach, 11561 or online at www.lbdny.org