Bea (Beatrice) Catherine (Scheckel) Novak passed away on April 10th, 2017 at the age of 92. She was born to Arnold and Clara Scheckel on June 21st, 1924.  She grew up on the Scheckel family farm on Wauzeka Ridge with her nine siblings.  Bea graduated early from high school and did clerical work in Detroit for Chrysler in the early 1940s. Bea met Andrew Novak at a dance where Andy’s band was playing, a romantic tale Bea often shared with her children.  Beatrice and Andrew were married on September 30th, 1944 at St Wenceslaus Church in Eastman, Wisconsin. Together they farmed on Irish Ridge in the town of Prairie du Chien where they raised seven children. Bea was a dedicated wife and mother.  She loved her gardens, both vegetable and flower. Bea truly had the proverbial “green thumb”, she could make anything grow. Bea worked for a number of years at Kemble’s Green House in Prairie du Chien where each spring she nurtured tiny seeds into beautiful plants. In her job at the greenhouse, Bea enjoyed helping people diagnose what was wrong with their ailing plants. She was an awesome cook and seamstress. Bea also taught high school religion classes and she volunteered in the grade school library. For many years, Bea was a fixture at the Town Hall where she helped out during elections, and she was the neighborhood chair for cancer fund drives for a number of years. Bea and Andy enjoyed dancing with a square dance group, and they loved to play cards with good friends.  Bea enjoyed hosting their “pot luck” group of friends for delicious meals. She was active in the St John’s parish family in Prairie du Chien and was in much demand during the church’s fall fest for her delicious chicken soup, which had no written recipe. Bea loved to joke with her children, listen to Andy play his accordion, and teach her grandchildren to play euchre. Bea was an organizer, a fighter, and a steward of the land.  Bea will be missed by her family and friends whose lives she touched.

 “Those we love don’t go away, They walk beside us every day, Unseen, unheard, but always near, Still loved, still missed and very dear.” (author unknown)

Bea is survived by 6 children, Janet Hoelker (Gene), Mike (Susan), Mary Lou Tucker (David), Mark (Jo Ann), Laura Parker (Dave), and Robert.  She is also survived by 13 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren. She is further survived by son-in-law David Larson, 3 sisters, Fern Schmaltz, Dolores (John) Stern, and Charlotte; 3 sisters-in-law Beth Scheckel, Bev Scheckel, and Evelyn Scheckel, brother-in-law Vince Sweeney, along with many nieces, nephews, and cousins. She was preceded in death by her husband, Andrew, her daughter, Catherine Larson, and her grandson, Scott Novak.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be Wednesday, April 19, 2017 at 11:00 AM at St. John’s Church of the Holy Family Parish, Msgr. Roger Scheckel officiating, with burial in the Calvary Cemetery both in Prairie du Chien.  Friends may call on Tuesday, April 18, 2017 from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM at the Garrity Funeral Home in Prairie du Chien. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Prairie Catholic Schools or the American Heart Association.  

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