A longtime driver for the L.J. Novak Oil Co. and member of the Slickville Volunteer Fire Department, Edward F. Novak of Slickville died Thursday, June 7, 2018, at Excela Health Westmoreland from complications of pneumonia. He was 61.
Mr. Novak was the son of Frank Novak, who founded the family's heating-oil delivery business with his brothers, and Olga Plancic Novak. From the time he could drive on his own, he was guiding one of the family's trucks on its deliveries.
“Slickville's a small town; everyone knew him as the oil hauler,” his daughter said. “Everybody we've heard from has been saying he really cared for his customers; he cared for everyone.”
He became a firefighter with the Slickville Volunteer Fire Department from the time he was 18, eventually rising to a brief stint as chief in 2008 before stepping down for surgery.