Remembering Novak's angelic voice

At most 8:30 a.m. services, Mary Beth Morgan, the congregation's director of adult and family ministries, would take time to have a "children's moment," in which she would lead the young members in a life lesson. As a tradition, this would entail Morgan inviting to the front all of the children -- and Zack Novak. \n"I have two head costumes: the donkey and Joseph. And the children would frequently ask him to wear the donkey's head," Morgan said. "But the last two times we did children's moments, the tables were turned. This past Palm Sunday, Zack had convinced the children, and when somebody could be Jesus and somebody else could be the donkey, they asked him to be Jesus." \nNovak, Morgan said, reached out to both adults and children through music in a "very kind and loving way," and was looked upon by the church community as a surrogate family member -- as a son to his elders and a role model to the little ones -- to the point that no service was complete without him being a part of it. \nFor a year and a half, Novak worked as the worship coordinator and director of the Wesley choir and children's choirs at First United Methodist Church, 219 E. Fourth St., while simultaneously earning his master's degree in music at IU. \nBut on April 20, Novak, just two weeks shy of his graduation, died in a plane crash along with four other IU graduate students in music. He was 25. \nNovak is survived by his mother, Misty Novak, his father, Dan Novak, and his younger brother Joel and sister Brytni.\nOn the night of the accident, Novak and students Chris Carducci, Garth Eppley, Georgina Joshi and Robert Samels were returning to Bloomington from a choral rehearsal in Lafayette. Each was an accomplished vocalist, and beyond singing, Novak also proved himself a talented choral conductor. \nNovak graduated from Anderson University in 2004. Among other venues, he performed with the Anderson Symphony Orchestra, Lafayette Bach Chorale and at the Carmel, Calif., Bach Festival.\nAnd while Novak focused intensely on his many performances and festivals, he also knew how to kick back, said Rev. Jimmy Moore, associate pastor of First United Methodist. \n"He enjoyed a fine wine," Moore laughed. "He went to this Bach Chorale festival in California, and while he was there, he visited the wine country. He came back with some, well, some excellent representations." \nClean-cut, neatly dressed and a smile that revealed all of his teeth, everyone who came into contact with Novak was "immediately enamored" with him, Morgan said. \nAbigail Mitchell, who knew Novak through the University Singers chamber choir, shares the same memory. \n"Zack often sat directly behind me, and when I grew tired during long rehearsals, he would sometimes spontaneously give me a back rub," Mitchell said, "which more often than not resulted in my proposing marriage. Other times, we would pass notes back and forth during rehearsals, which usually caused me to snort unattractively." \nNovak's sense of humor will particularly be missed by the youth he conducted at First United Methodist. Many of the children have said some of their fondest memories are of the surprise water balloon fight and the boomwacker band -- a series of tubes that have different pitches when hit -- he helped organize. \nMorgan's son, David, who is only 5 years old, is also grieving the loss of a friend. \nMorgan said: "When I had to tell my youngest son that (Novak) had died in an airplane, he said, 'My Zack, the one with the boomwacking sticks? My Zack, the one who would ride me on his shoulders?' He said, 'I love my Zack. God needs to build me a new Zack.'"\nBeth Wininger, a fellow vocalist in the Wesley choir, said no one will ever replace what Novak brought to her family. \nHe frequently visited her home to join her family for dinners and songs around the piano. She recalls a special tradition they shared of singing "The Lord's Prayer" in French together. \n""Zack was brought up Catholic, and, of course, I'm Protestant, and we actually sing a line that Catholics don't.," she said. "But when we would sing together, Zack would always pause for me to finish my part, and then we would join together again."\nDan Novak said his son's "passion for music" began at the age of 5. It was then that he started taking piano lessons.\nIn their time a grief, a memory of Novak's meticulous organization of his music -- a color coding system of sheets categorized by genre, composer, title and style -- filled their living room with laughter. Even as a child, Novak would sneak off to the corners of antique shops and dig through the stacks of old sheet music. \n"It was his passion," he re-emphasized. \nHis mother reflects on what a smart child he was. As early as 5, he would use multi-syllabic words like "repertoire" in his vocabulary. \n"At the pool once, this friend of mine and I were laying out, and Zack walked by. She said, 'You know, I really don't like him,' and I said, 'What do you mean? That's my kid.' 'Well, I know,' she said, 'but he's only 5, and he keeps talking over my head.'"\nAnd when the jokes were put aside, his mother said: "I just feel privileged to have known him for 25 years. He was one of the best people I have ever known." \nThe Novaks will host a visitation 2 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Brown, Brutz and Diedring Funeral Home in Anderson, Ind.