Name/Title
Van Tassell Family FarmEntry/Object ID
2024-7Description
Framed oil painting of the Van Tassell family farm and orchard, with the apple tree blossom in bloom, by Ida Van Tassell, framed in original hand painted green frame. The farm and orchard was located on Old Roaring Brook Road. Part of the Van Tassell family farm was sold in the 1930s and became the Readers Digest Corporate Headquarters and part of the new road system for the Saw Mill River Parkway.Context
[Obituary] Ida Van Tassel, age 86, an artist well-known for her Newtown street scenes and tole paintings, died September 19 in Danbury Hospital. Mrs. Van Tassell was the wife of the late Wright M. Van Tassell and resided at Berkshire Road, Sandy Hook. She was born in Pleasantville, N.Y., March 16, 1917, a daughter of the late Harold and Lillian (Washburn) Brundage. A resident of Newtown since 1955, Mrs. Van Tassell and her husband operated Van Tassell Tole House in Sandy Hook for 20 years. She was a member of Society of Creative Artists, Newtown (SCAN). Mrs. Van Tassel is survived by a daughter, Virginia Sherwood and her husband, Richard, of Sandy Hook; a sister, Vickie Kish of New Rochelle, N.Y.; three grandchildren, Rebecca Ferris, Thomas and Robert Sherwood; four great-grandchildren, Carley and Sean Ferris and Melissa and Elizabeth Sherwood. Funeral services were held September 23 at the Honan Funeral Home, 58 Main Street, Newtown. Interment was in Zoar Cemetery, PO Box 41, Newtown, CT 06470. [Taken from The Newtown Bee, September 26, 2003]