Betty Louise Scellato, 73, a real estate entrepreneur who was president of the Orland Park Chamber of Commerce and chairwoman of Orland Township’s United Way campaign, died of heart failure Wednesday, Feb. 6, in her Orland Park home. Born in West Virginia and raised on a farm in Pennsylvania, Mrs. Scellato moved to the Chicago area after she married Nicholas Raymond Scellato in 1956. They settled in Evergreen Park but soon moved to Orland Park. In the early 1960s, Mrs. Scellato took a sales job with Carson Pirie Scott. She worked her way up and became a buyer, a job that took her across the country. When the travel began to wear on her, Mrs. Scellato left that job and studied real estate, said her son, Robert. After earning her broker’s license, Mrs. Scellato opened “B” Scellato Realty in the mid-1970s. The business quickly grew, which introduced her to the business community in Orland Park. In the early 1980s, she was named president of the Orland Park Chamber of Commerce, her son said. Her work with the United Way was some of the most rewarding of her life, he said. “She always wanted to do something that would make a difference in your life,” he said. In the mid-1980s, Mrs. Scellato closed her business to care for her husband, who died in 1993. Other survivors include a sister, Edith Swanson. Services have been held.
