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Father Novak grew up in Omaha

    Redemptorist Father Henry Novak, a Dwight, Neb., native who grew up in Omaha’s Holy Name Parish with five siblings, three of whom also entered religious life, died Feb. 11 in Liguori, Mo. He was 92.  
    A funeral Mass was held Feb. 16 at St. Clement Health Care Center, with interment in the Redemptorist Cemetery, both in Liguori.
    Father Novak entered the Redemptorists in 1937, made his first profession in 1945 and his final profession in 1948. He was ordained in 1950.
    Two of his late brothers– Bishop Alfred Novak and Father Francis Novak – also served as Redemptorists. A sister, the late Sister Elizabeth Novak, was a member of the Notre Dame order.
    Father Novak’s service included pastoral training from 1950 to 1952 in St. Louis. In the 1950s through the early 1970s, Father Novak served in a parish in Houston and as a pastor in parishes in Chicago.
    He was a member of the Redemptorists’ Ordinary Provincial Council from 1972 to 1978 and treasurer for the order’s former St. Louis Province from 1979 to 1996.
    In semi-retirement, he worked in vocations and formation for the order’s Inter-Provincial Novitiate in Glenview, Ill., from 1996 to 2011, when he retired to the health care center in Liguori.
    In addition to his brothers and sister, Father Novak was preceded in death by parents, Frank and Mary Novak; brother, Philip Novak; and sister, Marie Novak Maixner. He is survived by nieces and nephews.

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