Rita Novak

Rita Novak, loving matriarch and bold Bingo Queen, passed away peacefully at home early Monday, November 1, 2021, after living with Alzheimer’s for several years. She had recently celebrated her 88th birthday. Rita grew up in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where she lived for 43 years before moving to Somerset County. Married to her husband of 68 years, John J Novak Jr, Rita was the mother of four children—Laura (Michael), John III (Michelle), Andrew (Sharon), and Dennis (Rick), seven grandchildren—Michelle, Lindsay, John IV, Samantha, Corrie, Christopher, and Morgan, and three great-grandchildren—John V, William, and Caleb. Many of her family members inherited her love of games and feisty attitude. Rita spent her early life working as a secretary, then a waitress, while raising her children and volunteering at St. Catherine’s school and church in Hillside, NJ. She knew how to work hard and have fun—helping her husband build a business while hosting family get-togethers, enjoying summer vacations down the shore, and learning to drive in her 40s. As the Novak clan expanded, Rita and John spent many years attending grandchildren’s dance recitals, ball games, spelling bees, graduations, and weddings, all while working and traveling throughout the United States, Europe, and the Caribbean. She loved to get away somewhere warm—first to the roulette wheel and bright lights of Las Vegas, and later the bingo cards and blue waters of the Florida Keys. Rita was a member of the Bound Brook Women’s Elks Lodge as well as a Lector, Eucharistic Minister, and member of the Rosary Society at St. Joseph Parish, where she spent over 25 years as an Administrative Assistant. Her love, laughter, and big hugs will be much missed. After a private viewing on Friday at Hagan-Chamberlain Funeral Home, her life will be celebrated at a Mass of Christian Burial at 10 am on Saturday, November 6, 2021, at St. Joseph Church, 111 E High St, Bound Brook, NJ. In lieu of flowers, a tribute gift may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association or the VNA Health Group, Robert Wood Johnson Visiting Nurse Association Health and Hospice.