Memorials › Genevieve Joehanna Novak Kelley
Genevieve Joehanna Novak Kelley
20 May 1918 – 3 Jan 1987
| Birth | 20 May 1918 |
| Death | 3 Jan 1987 |
| Cemetery | Plainview Cemetery Maxwell , Lincoln County , Nebraska , USA |
| Added by | Joleen Minyard on 16 Jun 2012 |
| FaG | https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/45471315 |
Bio
Genevieve was born in Gothenburg to John & Bertha Dircksen Novak. She graduated from Maxwell HS in 1936 where she loved being point guard for the girls' basketball team. When they were 16, Les & Genevieve fell in love, but World War II started. Genevieve's sister, Emma (Homer) Moore moved to California so Homer could work for Douglas Aircraft. Les was attending Voch Tech in Kansas. Genevieve wrote him a dear John letter & left it & her engagement ring with his mom. She road the train to be with Emma & help her with her baby. When Les read the letter, he packed everything he owned in his Model-T & drove from Maxwell to Santa Monica, where he & Genevieve were married on June 26, 1941. Their favorite thing to do was ride the ferris wheel & roller coaster on the Santa Monica Pier. Les went to work for Douglas Aircraft as a riviting foreman, They were transfered to Tulsa & would tell about pulling their 10 foot trailer (their home) behind the Model-T through Death Valley & stopping to put water on the tires to cool them (they had to trade for rationing coupons for recap tires before making the move.) When the war ended, they moved back to North Platte, where Les worked for the University of Nebraska North Platte Station as shop foreman for 40 years. They were founding members of the First Assembly of God Church, where Les served on the church board & they taught Sunday School & enjoyed ministering in nursing homes. In 1951 their daughter, Joleen was born. Les built them a house, doing all of the work himself, except connecting the electrical into the breaker box. They were people of faith, who read their Bibles & prayed every day. Genevieve had calluses on her knees from hours of prayer for others.Their family went to an Oral Roberts Tent Meeting in Scottsbluff & watched the cataracts disappear from Les's eyes. Genevieve took pride in her blue ribbons from the Lincoln County Fair for her sewing, canning & baking. She enjoyed being part of the State Farm Extension Club & the Women's Missionary Council. In Oct, Genevieve spent the month in Tulsa with Joleen, her husband Ray & grandson, Mike. She washed windows, mended, & straightened closets & drawers. When she went into the coma, Joleen told Les, "Daddy, she will hang on until you get her Social Security check" and she did, because that was who she was, a woman who put others first. Les & Joleen held her hands & sang "Amazing Grace" then Joleen prayed & said, "God, my parents gave me back to you when I was 2 weeks old, but I've never given my mom back to you. It's ok. I'm sorry, my mom is yours." Genevieve opened her eyes, took 2 more breathes & entered Heaven's Gate, where we will meet again. In addition to her daughter, Joleen, Genevieve is survived by her son-in-law, Ray and grandson, Mike (4 at the time of her death), who was her sweetheart & inherited her love for basketball.
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