On October 18, 2024, the world lost our beautiful loving mother and wife, Celia (Celly) van der Meulen. While our hearts are broken, we are also relieved that she is finally resting peacefully after a five-year battle with PSP (Progressive Supranuclear Palsy), a neurological disease that steadily robbed her of the ability to do the things she loved to do: sing, bicycle, swim laps, garden, knit, play board games, walk on the beach, make wood carvings, and tell stories. Most of these things she did in the company of her husband, dear friends, children, and grandchildren.

Celly, an incredibly kind, brave, and outgoing woman, was born on April 10, 1940, in Woudrichem, The Netherlands. She remembered first-hand the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands and how German soldiers lived in her mother’s house while she, her mom, and her brothers lived in the attic. Celly wed her husband, Arie, on June 10, 1965.

Celly finished school at age 15 and started working full-time as a secretary. She worked in paid employment most of her life, taking time away from the labor market only when her children were young. By the time her youngest was in middle school, Celly went back to work as a receptionist in a nursing home, and then she joined her husband Arie in the family business in New Canaan.

When Arie retired in 2001, Celly turned to one of her passions: dogs. She loved dogs, especially American cocker spaniels, so how apropos that her last job in her long work history allowed her to pamper the local dogs who needed a wash, cut, and blow dry.

Celly was as courageous as she was kind. She, Arie, and their kids immigrated in 1973 to the US, where Celly did not know a soul and was still not completely fluent in English. While Arie traveled around the globe for his job, Celly effectively raised the children single-handedly. Every summer she would fly back to Holland with three young kids in tow. She sewed many of their clothes and took pride in cooking their favorite Dutch meals. For years she took the kids to the local swimming pool every week for lessons, attended various sporting events and, to this day, they are all active because of that. The children were not easy on their mother though; they got into accidents, had trouble at school, and partied a lot as teenagers. Despite their rebelliousness, she loved them unconditionally and never wavered in her support.

Celly is survived by her husband, Arie, of almost 60 years, three children: Yana and her partner Jay, Hans and his wife Victoria, and Hendrika (Heidi); six grandchildren (Elly, Billy, Charlie, Willem and his wife Stephanie, Beau, and Sabrina); and one great-grandchild (Boone, son of Willem and Stephanie).

Celly, we are all devastated and miss you terribly. Rust in vrede onze lieve moeder en vrouw.

In lieu of flowers, we ask that you make a donation in memory of Celly to A New Chance Animal Rescue, at PO Box 215, Bedford Hills NY 10507 (anewchancear.org/help/donate/ ). Honan Funeral Home, 58 Main Street in Newtown, is serving the family.