Elizabeth "Bette" W. Brya

Elizabeth “Bette” Nadelhoffer Brya née Wedge, age 95, passed away peacefully at home on September 16, 2025 with family at her side. Born on March 14, 1930, Bette was the youngest child of Rose Kennedy Wedge (nee Florian) and Ernest Wedge. She had a happy childhood where she fondly recalls frequent visits to her maternal family’s blueberry farm in Grand Junction Michigan and being adored by her three older brothers, who called her “Sis” throughout their lives. She spent her early years in the lakeside community of Druce Lake where her mother and father owned a series of family businesses, including a general store that rented rowboats and sold groceries, gasoline and ice cream to neighbors and summer residents. After her two older brothers, George and James “Jim” Kennedy, returned from World War II, they renovated the store along with brother John Wedge and renamed it “Kennedy’s Tavern”, a popular post-war nightclub that featured music, food, 2 full-service bars, and a back-room poker game.

Bette worked alongside her father, mother, and brothers in this thriving family business until she married John “Jack” Nadelhoffer on September 25, 1949. She and her new husband lived in a small Druce Lake cottage where they welcomed their first son into the world. Husband Jack, a lieutenant in the US Marine Corps Reserves, was re-commissioned as captain in July 1950 to serve in the Korean War. Bette traveled with “Captain Jack” for a year to marine air bases in Florida and California where he retrained to fly combat missions from aircraft carriers. Bette returned to Druce Lake in July 1951 after Jack left for Korea. When she was 8 months pregnant with her 2nd child, she received notice that Captain Jack was killed on a combat mission on January 26, 1952. Bette, ever so resilient and devoted, raised two young boys as a single mother, with the support of her Druce Lake family and Captain Nadelhoffer’s family in nearby Wadsworth, Illinois.

Bette and George Brya added 6 more children to their family after their marriage on April 21, 1956. Together, they lovingly raised all 8 children at their lakeside home. Bette was preceded in death by both husbands and her 3 older brothers. She is survived by children Knute (Barbara Billings) Nadelhoffer, Jack (Kathy King) Nadelhoffer, Mitch (Elaine) Brya, Morrie (the late Bette) Brya, Kim Brya (Ted) Sadauskas, Scott (Sylvia) Brya, Paul Brya, and Tim (Diana) Brya. Bette’s generosity and gifts of love are deeply appreciated by her children and their spouses, her grandchildren, her great-grandchildren, her extended family, and her many friends. She will be affectionately remembered by all who knew her, for her good humor, culinary skills, decorative talents, love for all things furry and feathered, and her caring nature.

Visitation will be at the Warren Funeral Home, Cemetery & Mausoleum, 1475 North Cemetery Road in Gurnee, Illinois from 4pm to 8pm on Thursday, September 25. Bette’s funeral service will be held at Saint Patrick’s Church in Wadsworth, Illinois on Friday, September 26 at 10am, followed by a procession to Ascension Cemetery in Libertyville.