Theresa Nardelli, 87, waitress, homemaker

"When we lived in my grandmother's house" in Camden in the early 1950s, Karen Iannaccone said, "the trucks carrying the tomatoes used to come right by," heading for the Campbell Soup Co.

It was a cobblestone street, she said, and every so often a basket of tomatoes would fall off.

"And my grandmother used to say, 'Go out and get the tomatoes.' "

That's how the grandmother, Louise Nardelli, knew that her kitchen was serving the freshest tomato pies, down at the Parkside Italian Restaurant, which she owned.

So did Iannaccone's mother, Theresa, who waited on tables there.

On Sunday, Sept. 4, Theresa Reineck Nardelli, 87, died of complications from dementia at Lutheran Crossings, the senior health-care community in Moorestown.

Born in Philadelphia, Mrs. Nardelli worked in the 1940s at Campbell Soup.

In the early 1950s, Iannaccone said, "my father, Louis, fell out of a car, had surgery, and was on crutches for two years."

His mother's "home was about a half block" from her restaurant, "so we ended up moving into her home."

It was a small neighborhood restaurant, with perhaps 10 tables, "with red-checked tablecloths."

And it reflected the family. One of Iannaccone's uncles was a cook, and one of her aunts watched over the girl while Iannaccone's mother worked the tables.

By the mid-1950s, after Louis Nardelli recovered, Theresa Nardelli went to being a homemaker.

In the early 1960s, Iannaccone said, Mrs. Nardelli "would work in the concession stands at baseball games, when my brothers played Little League."

She was a member of the ladies' auxiliary for the Cramer Hill Boys' Club. And after moving to Villas in 1983, she was a member of the ladies' auxiliary at the Church of St. Raymond there.

Gerri Smith, who knew Mrs. Nardelli from when she babysat for young Gerri, said Mrs. Nardelli was "always a good, good woman, who always took care of everybody."

Besides her daughter, Mrs. Nardelli is survived by son Louis M. Nardelli Jr., two grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. Her husband, Louis M. Sr., died in 1988 and their son Michael died in 1983.

A viewing and visitation is set from 9 to 10:30 a.m., Monday, Sept. 12, at the Mark C. Tilghman Funeral Home, 38 N. Forklanding Rd., Maple Shade, before an 11 a.m. Funeral Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, 236 E. Main St., Maple Shade, with interment in Calvary Cemetery in Cherry Hill.

Condolences may be offered to the family at marktilghmanfuneralhome.com.

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