John Novak, 78

June 11, 1939 —

Sept. 20, 2017

 

Spillville - John Novak, age 78, of Spillville, Iowa died Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2017 at the Winneshiek Medical Center in Decorah, Iowa.

A Mass of Christian Burial was held Sept. 25, 2017 at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church in Spillville, with Father Robert Gross officiating, along with Leah Riehle serving as Eucharistic minister. Burial was in St. Wenceslaus Catholic Cemetery.

John Joseph Novak was born June 11, 1939, the son of John F. and Emma G. (Wacha) Novak in Decorah. He attended St. Wenceslaus Catholic School. He joined the U.S. Army on Aug. 29, 1957 and was honorably discharged May 28, 1959. On Nov. 10, 1959, John married Viola Mary Schmitt at St. Luke’s Catholic Church in St. Lucas, Iowa. 

Together they lived and worked on their farm, located two-and-a-half miles west of Spillville, until they moved to Spillville in 1987. John’s career started with his dairy operation and crop farming and later expanded to raising hogs and chickens. Along with his own farming work, he also assisted and was available to help many other local farmers with their custom planting and harvesting needs. 

In addition to his farming business, John also established his own trucking company and was the CEO of Grain Express, Inc. he loved and thoroughly enjoyed farming and trucking with his son, Daniel, and his grandson, Randy. 

In his spare time, he worked weekends for more than 12 years as a Nurse Technician at Mayo Medical Center in Rochester, Minn. and made many close friends during his career there. John also was a trained EMT and worked as a First Responder for South Winneshiek. 

John was a very active member of the St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church, the Holy Name Society and took upon himself to maintain the Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto daily. He thoroughly enjoyed everything he did in his life and never officially retired. 

John’s hobby was his work and he approached every job with joy and enthusiasm. His kindness and sense of humor were always present with a smile. He touched many lives that he encountered along his journey through life. He was always ready to help anyone and everyone in need and truly was a very spiritual man with a deep devotion to his faith. He literally had hundreds of people on his daily prayer list.

John was a very happy person who was dedicated to his family and especially to his one true love of his life, his beloved wife, Viola. His family and friends are at peace knowing that his soul was prepared and ready for his next chapter in the afterlife. 

John is survived by his wife, Viola Novak of Spillville; three children, Daniel (Heidi Hutchins) Novak of Fort Atkinson, Iowa, Julie (Brian) Parkinson, of Wichita, Kan. and Mark (Lisa) Novak of Hannibal, Mo,; nine grandchildren, Randy Novak, Heather Novak, Kelly (Barry) de Klerk, Kyle, Bryan, Tyler, Brady, Cory and Ryan Novak; one great-grandchild, Gabriel Galyan; two sisters, Phyllis Riehle of Spillville and Tami (Cliff) Dow of Scottsdale, Ariz.; one brother, David Novak of Hawkeye, Iowa; one brother-in-law, Edgar (Rita) Schmitt of Decorah; and many nieces and nephews.

John was preceded in death by his parents, John F. and Emma G. (Wacha) Novak; one sister, JoAnn (Dave) Miller; two brothers-in-law, Julius Riehle and Alvin Mashek; and his father-in-law and mother-in-law, Joseph T. and Julia (Blong) Schmitt.