Priestly life was an adventure for Father James Novotny

Father James Novotny once wrote that life as a priest, serving the Archdiocese of Omaha for 60 years, was “a magnificent journey.”

Indeed, life seemed to be an adventure for the priest, who loved to fish and camp, who made homilies come alive with props and poignant examples, who talked in person with future canonized saints and who enjoyed living boldly and sharing his stories.

Father Novotny was known for one story in particular: when he slapped a bear’s face after it stole his backpack – and the bear backed down!

The beloved priest brought many people with him both on his escapades into the wilderness and on his journey to God.

His earthly adventure came to an end on Dec. 14 with Father Novotny’s death at Boone County Health Center in Albion. He was 86.

A vigil service was planned for 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 20, at Holy Family Church in Lindsay, where he had served from 1996 until his retirement in 2019.

Archbishop George J. Lucas was to celebrate the funeral Mass, set for 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 21, at the church.

Both services were to be livestreamed on the Gass Haney Funeral Home’s Facebook page and the Lindsay Holy Family Facebook page.

Burial will be at the parish cemetery.

Father Novotny was born in Omaha to Frank Joseph and Lunora Ann (Kirkpatrick) Novotny. The priest credited his mother for teaching him the power of prayer.

“She prayed me out of polio,” he wrote in a reflection on his priesthood. She prayed him out of trouble as a teenager and into the seminary, he said, and years later, successfully prayed that a robber would return his stolen wallet.

Father Novotny graduated from St. Bernard School and Creighton Preparatory School, both in Omaha, before studying at Conception Seminary in Conception, Missouri, and St. Thomas Seminary in Denver.

After his ordination in 1964, he served at Sts. Peter and Paul Parish in Omaha from 1964 to 1966; Sacred Heart Parish in Norfolk from 1966 to 1967; St. Bridget Parish in Omaha from 1967 to 1971, while also teaching at the former Archbishop Ryan High School in Omaha; Mary Our Queen Parish in Omaha from 1971 to 1974; St. Joseph Parish in Pierce from 1974 to 1982, while teaching at Norfolk Catholic High School in Norfolk; Sacred Heart Parish in Emerson from 1982 to 1986, while also being assigned to St. John Parish in Pender from 1992 to 1996; and at Holy Family in Lindsay from 1996 to 2019, while also serving at St. Edward Parish in St. Edward from 1999 to 201o.

Father Novotny was a Boy Scouts leader from 1974 to 2010, and in the early 1980s helped bring Teens Encounter Christ to rural northeast Nebraska.

His relatives remembered how he often used props in his preaching to make a point, like when he used a ball and chains to talk about sin during a Reconciliation service.

He gave people rocks that he picked up on his outdoor adventures. The rocks, initially rough, had been polished and made to shine in a rock tumbler. Similarly, people can be transformed and refined by God through the ups and downs of life, he would say.

Father Novotny loved telling people about his showdown with the bear, which occurred on a trip to the Boundary Waters wilderness in Canada.

“He climbed into my canoe and took my backpack,” which had $120 and his car keys in it, the priest recalled. “So I couldn’t let him have it.

“He got tired of me throwing rocks and sticks at him, so he came up within inches of my face and growled at me. I slapped his face and chased him up a tree.”

Father Novotny said he treasured a 10-minute conversation he had with Pope St. John Paul II in 1979 and a 15-minute conversation later, in 1984, with St. Teresa of Kolkata.

Father Novotny wrote that he encountered Jesus through many other people, too, including his parishioners; other priests of the archdiocese; and the families, individuals and youths who joined him on his outdoor trips and to whom he ministered.

The priest was recognized for his service and dedication with a Spirit of Father Flanagan award from Boys Town, a Silver Beaver Award from Boy Scouts of America and a St. George Award from the National Catholic Scouting Committee.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers Thomas and Joseph; sister Jeanemarie Novotny Hudson; sister-in-law Maureen; and brothers-in-law Jerry Hudson and Ronald Martins.

Survivors include his sister Kathryn C. (Kay) Martins of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin; many nieces and nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews.