With great sadness, we announce the passing of Petronella van de Velden-Sabol, better known to friends and family as Nelleke.

Nelleke was born in the city of Hilversum, The Netherlands on the 8th day of the eight month in 1962 to the late Hermanus van de Velden. She married James Sabol on March 7 1990 in Panama City FL. She met her husband while he was stationed in The Netherlands for the USAF. She was the third child of Hermanus van de Velden. Nelleke leaves her devoted husband Jim. They had 6 children: Samantha and her wife Jessica, Cynthia and her husband James Matsago, Kyle, Quintin, Mitchell, and Logan and his partner, Hyacinth. She was blessed with 4 grand children who brought her more joy than words could ever express. Esmeralda, Owen, Leah, and Avery. She was very proud of her children and grand children.

Nelleke had many hobbies. Scrapbooking,Ceramics, rubber stamping, sewing, needle point, jewelry making, coloring, the list goes on and it would probably be quicker to list what hobbies she didn’t have at one point in her life. She was an accomplished chef with published recipes, and her meals will be sorely missed. Her children have fond memories of the handmade intricate Halloween costumes she would design and sew for them. She also accumulated a very large Barbie collection. She had a route that she would drive that she would stop at 12 different thrift stores, an adventure known as “Going Goodwilling”.

She was a member of the Tamaqua knitting group The Happy Hookers and the Tamaqua Arts Center. She was one of the original writing group members of The Coal Crackers.

One of her biggest passions was genealogy. She found 12,000 family members in her family tree going back to the 1400’s . Nelleke also helped many people trying to research their family trees. She was a respected expert in reading older Dutch records.

Nelleke read everything she could get her hands on. This love was passed to her children who grew up with a home library almost as well stocked as the town library. There was no subject or genre she wouldn’t try but her favorites were science fiction, fantasy, and mythology. Her favorite author was Terry Prachett. Nelleke read and spoke 4 languages. For years she was a featured dancer on the Dutch live music TV program Top Pop.

She was a black belt and top ten world wide ranking player in a strategy based video game. Nelleke also enjoyed Pokémon Go she was stopped many times by the police who asked what she was doing stopping frequently without leaving the car. She had a large board game collection, and was happy to play most of them. Her children refused to play Monopoly against her.

Her most favorite thing in the whole world was her children and grandchildren, She was a devoted stay at home mother and grandmother. Prior to this, she had a few different successful careers, but being a Mom and Oma was her favorite. She loved all of her children and grandchildren so much.

Nelleke loved to take her kids and grandkids on her adventures all over the world. Nelleke loved to go exploring. Everyday was an adventure for her. Never knew where she would end up or how she got there but everyone enjoying every moment of her trips.Nelleke was always there to help anyone in their time of need. She was a staunch defender of friends, family, and underdogs. Her heart was as big as her smile. FTLD took her from us way too early. She always had a very big impact on the lives of everyone that met her. There was almost nothing she didn’t excel at once it caught her attention. She will be deeply missed.

She spent her last moments surrounded by family, love, and in her favorite place, “the arms of my Jim”

Nelleke is proceeded by her father, Hermanus and son, Quintin, and a brother in law, Sietze Beuving, husband of sister Judith in Hilversum, The Netherlands.

Arrangements have been entrusted to the E. Franklin Griffiths Funeral Home & Cremation Services, Inc. 655 East Broad Street Tamaqua, Pennsylvania 18252. (570) 668-2550

A celebration of Nelleke's Life will be held on Tuesday evening January 20, 2026 at the funeral home from 5:30 P.M. to 6:30 P.M.

 Online condolences or a fond memory can be expressed by visiting www.griffithsfuneralhomes.com