Elisabeth Catharine Tadiello

Lakeville Journal 12 March 2009 SIMSBURY — Elisabeth Catharine (Van Roden), Van Dyk Tadiello was the daughter of Elisabeth Catharine Koek and Gerard Jacob Theodore Van Rodeo. She was born June 15, 1913 in Belsen in the province of Ijmuiden, the Netherlands. She was predeceased by her first husband, Cornelis Van Dyk, who passed away on September 3, 1974. As a young woman Betty, as she was known, attended the conservatory in Harlem, the Netherlands, and studied voice and violin. she was an accomplished violinist, playing for the Harlem Symphony Orchestra. With her first husband and a child, they survived the Nazi occupation. A second child was born in the closing months of World War II during an American bombing raid. In 1947 the family immigrated to the United States by way of Ellis Island as indentured servants. Unbeknownst to them, they were brought to this country by an illegal moonshiner who wished to benefit from Betty's husband's expertise in plants. Federal agents closed the moonshine operation with the help of Van Dyk family members and as a reward were allowed to remain in the United States. They moved from Katonah, NY to Sharon CT in 1950 and to Salisbury later that year. In 1950 the family moved to the Dwight Harris Estate in Salisbury, more recently known as the Crosby Estate, on Route 44 near Dutcher's Bridge. The family worked as caretakers of the estate. In 1965 Betty and her husband opened a flower store in North Canaan, known as Van dyk Dutch Gardens. The store prospered until his sudden death. Two years later, Betty met the man who was to be her second husband. Isadore Tadiello, a widower, successful local electrical contractor and Pearl Harbor survivor. They married in 1978 and lived happily on North Canaan and Del Ray Beach, Florida. Isadore and Betty enjoyed many travels together to Europe, Hawaii and the Caribbean until Betty's passing. Betty was a talented artist. she played the violin, painted needlepoints of Dutch masters and did floral design and interior decoration. She leaves behind her beloved husband of 30 years, Isadore Tadiello; two sons and their wives, Cornelis Andre and Elisabeth Van Dyk of Little Rock, Arkansas; Bernard Robert and Pamela Nagle Van Dyk of Marston Mills, Cape Cod, Massachusetts; two stepsons and their wives, William and Barbara Tadiello of North Canaan; David and Nancy Tadiello of Charleston, West Virginia; seven grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. St. Joseph's Church in North Canaan.