Nicholas Nick Carlyle Novak

Nicholas ""Nick"" Novak, 64, of Fairdealing, Mo. died Saturday, April 14, 2012 at John J. Pershing VA Medical Center.

Mr. Novak was born Oct. 29, 1948 in Poplar Bluff, where he lived most of his life before relocating to Fairdealing three years ago. He was baptized at Sacred Heart Church, and attended grade school there. Mr. Novak attended high school in Doniphan and graduated from Poplar Bluff High School. He received an AA degree from Three Rivers College and a B.S. degree in Parks and Recreation from Southwest Missouri State University. He was a veteran of the U.S. Navy where he served in Vietnam, and was the recipient of the Combat Action Ribbon. He worked for the National Park Service, the U.S. Postal Service and became a well-known sportscaster for KLID and other area radio stations. Mr. Novak was also an environmentalist and voluntarily scoured local rivers and streams for hazardous waste, contaminated materials and dumpsites.

Mr. Novak was a 4th Degree Knight of Columbus and performed volunteer work for many federal, state and county agencies. He practiced his degree by coaching boys and girls little league teams in addition to engineering baseball diamonds in several surrounding Southeast Missouri area parks. He was an avid sports fan, and was acquainted with many professional coaches and players.

Mr. Novak researched and authored the ""Nowak Family Heritage Book"" published in 1994 and was instrumental in the adoption of Nowak Heritage Day, July 23, 1994, as declared by Missouri House of Representatives, Resolution No. 746. More recently, he completed research to write another book featuring the foothills of the Ozarks and many places in the surrounding area. He enjoyed history, especially Missouri history, and traveled thousands of miles to authenticate and confirm details of his writings.

Mr. Novak enjoyed spending time with his family, being outdoors and sports especially basketball.

Survivors include his daughter, Stephanie O'Brien of Poplar Bluff; a 2 year old granddaughter, Kloey O'Brien; two sisters, Darlene Nowak Suter, and husband Ron of Poplar Bluff and Blanche Crook of Amarillo, Tex.; two brothers, Adam A. Novak of St. Peters, Mo. and Lawrence P. Novak, of St. John, Mo.; an uncle, Walter B. Dixon and wife Dee of Waynesville, Mo.; an aunt, Eva Mae Dixon of St. Louis, Mo.; and nine nieces and four nephews.

His parents, Adam A. and Ruby L. Dixon Novak and a sister, Antoinette Katherine Summers, preceded Mr. Novak in death.

A Prayer Service will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday at Cotrell Funeral Chapel in Poplar Bluff with visitation following until 8 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will begin at 10 a.m. Friday at Sacred Heart Catholic Church with Father Joseph Mathai officiating. Burial with full military honors will be at Sacred Heart Cemetery in Poplar Bluff.