Obituary of John Nowak

NOWAK - John Joseph Nowak left this world on January 16, 2022 at the age of 80 years after a long battle with cancer.

John was the 10^th of 12 children and the youngest boy of a strong Polish family. He spoke lovingly of an idyllic childhood, growing up in an area of Kitchener he and his friends fondly called skunk's hollow. Early adventures with hunting and fishing remained lifelong interests. There were two holy weeks for John, fishing in May and hunting in November with friends Derm Collins, Ralph MacKenzie and often his son Pat.

Of his many talents, John had a beautiful baritone voice, he soloed on a Christmas choir recording and found it hard to resist a karaoke opportunity. John volunteered for many years on the construction crew of the K-W Musical Production Community Theatre. He served as President of KWMP during some of their most memorable productions. In recent years John shared some of these talents with the Sarnia Imperial Theatre. An avid reader, John attributed the speed and retention to keeping abreast of international shipping regulations needed for his logistics management role. Of the latter, John delighted in celebrating the 10^th anniversary of his retirement, as his last employer kept renewing his contract as a consultant. John's sharp wit kept everyone entertained and he was always quick to lend a hand. As family members attested, John helped with anything, including moving, hosting the Easter family drop in and organizing the Nowak Woodlot Bush Party for many years. To this end he was known for bringing the family together.

 After marrying Barb, John blended quickly into the Sarnia environment, being a font of obscure trivia with family games, volunteering with Rayjon and Knights of Columbus events and hiking with local groups. Sadly he never did get to fish in the local waters.

John was predeceased by parents Joseph and Ann, his first wife Katherine, sisters Theresa Nowak, Clara Henry and Jose Cote (Gaetan, 2016), and brothers Stan (Marlene) and Cas (Mae, 2019). He leaves behind his wife Barb Paul, daughter Kristin Nowak (Aljon Catholique), son Patrick Nowak, sisters Irene Ferguson (John, 2012), Laura Donald (Jack, 2019), Janet Healy (John), Mary Nowak, and Ann Campbell (John, 2012), brother Walter (Patricia), grandchildren Alexandra, K'aili, Faith and Tthen Catholique, many nieces and nephews and step-daughters Wendy Ghobril and Dr. Monica Hinton.

To Dr Greensmith, the Bluewater Health Palliative Care team, and all staff of the St. Joseph's Hospice, your care and support will be remembered always. Thanks also to Dr. Fernandez and Dr. Xenocostas and their teams at London Regional Cancer Program for their years of compassionate disease management.  

Visitation will be held at the McKenzie & Blundy Funeral Home & Cremation Centre, 431 N. Christina St. Sarnia on Wednesday from 6-8 p.m.  To attend the visitation, sign up is required at the following link https://signup.com/go/MJYKKdL or call the funeral home at 519-344-3131. Masks and social distancing are mandatory. Due to the restrictions of Covid 19, a private Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Sacred Heart Church on Thursday, January 20, 2022 at 11 a.m. and will be livestreamed. To view the livestream please go to: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-J7SLoF9enNCR6dwEM--uw

Cremation will follow. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the St. Vincent de Paul Society, 106 East St. N., Sarnia, N7T 7H9 or https://www.ssvpsarnialambton.ca/donate/ or Sacred Heart Church, c/o 1011 Oak Ave., Sarnia, N7S 1J4. Messages of condolence and memories may be left at www.mckenzieblundy.com