Zuzanna Novak

A true life Cinderella story has finally come to an end after more than 100 years. Zuzanna (Okarma) Novak, born March 7, 1924, in Poland, passed away peacefully on the morning of January 3rd. Her life was defined by faith, resilience, and an unwavering devotion to family. Through profound loss, war, displacement, and rebuilding in a new country, she lived with strength, dignity, and grace, leaving behind a legacy of perseverance and love.

Zuzanna’s childhood was marked early by hardship. She lost her father at the age of eight and then her mother at just eleven years old. Following these losses, she lived first with her grandmother until she died and later with her aunt and then another aunt. Orphaned, Zuzanna had to learn at a young age the meaning of responsibility, endurance, and self-reliance. These formative years shaped a woman who understood sacrifice and resilience long before adulthood.

During World War II the German Nazis came for Zuzanna. At first her family had her hide in the nearby forest. When she heard that her Uncle was to be executed unless she came forth, she came back the next day. Her Uncle was later killed. Zuzanna was taken from her home, transported to Germany and placed into service for a German family to take the place of a son who was leaving to become a German soldier. She worked there from 1941 to 1945. Her duties were demanding: working in the barnyard, tending gardens, keeping house, cooking, and caring for children. These years required physical strength, discipline, and emotional fortitude.

Upon her release from forced labor at the end of the war, Zuzanna was sent to a relocation camp near Cologne, which came under fire during ongoing unrest. After another transfer, she eventually found herself among fellow displaced persons seeking stability and a future beyond war. It was during this period, at a gathering, that she met John Novak, her Prince Charming, who was also a concentration camp survivor. From the moment he saw her, John knew she was the woman he would love for the rest of his life - she knew he was right. They married in a humble ceremony, beginning a partnership built not on comfort, but on shared faith and purpose.

After the war, Poland was sacrificed and enslaved by the Yalta Conference to Communist domination of Stalin’s Soviet Union. John and Zuzanna knew they could not return to Poland having lost so much there. They knew their future lay elsewhere. Together, they chose to pursue a new life in the United States.

In 1949, they legally immigrated to America, processing through Ellis Island before traveling by train from New York to Boston. They were welcomed and sponsored by the Stetts family in Haverhill, who housed and fed them while they worked to find employment and save for a home of their own. That sponsorship grew into a lifelong friendship—one of many examples of the bonds Zuzanna and John formed over the years through gratitude, and mutual respect. This experience led them to legally sponsor many other families as well so that they could make their contributions to their new American homeland.

Zuzanna and John knew how to make ends meet and how to better their circumstances through hard work and unity. They built their life, and even first house, with their own hands and loved with their whole hearts, always keeping one another—and the advancement of their family—their highest priority.

They had welcomed their daughter Manya while living in Germany and later settled in Haverhill, where Zuzanna attended night school to learn English while raising her family. A short time later, they welcomed their son Frank. When he faced a battle with polio as a child, Zuzanna met it with unwavering encouragement and commitment helping him overcome all challenges.

Zuzanna believed deeply in being a good person: not speaking ill of others, pulling your own weight, standing up for yourself, and always supporting those you love. Upon gaining Citizenship she never missed the opportunity to vote, and, in fact, was formally recognized as a “Super Voter” for fulfilling her civic responsibility.

Industrious and creative, she was a skilled “Fancy Stitcher” in the local shoe industry and was highly sought after. Later she transferred those skills to high fashion clothing with “Ultra-Suede.”

She kept a warm and welcoming home and was known for preparing delicious meals that brought family together. She also played a central role in the childhood of her grandchildren, creating memories that will be carried for a lifetime—from walks around Round Pond, to sitting poolside during swimming lessons, to quiet moments later in life. Zuzanna’s nurturing spirit extended beyond her family to the living world around her. She found joy in tending gardens, surrounding herself with flowers and was once surprised to learn that she was chosen as Winner of the Garden of the Month Club for her innovative mix of colors through vegetables and flowers. She also deeply cared for animals—especially her beloved dogs over the years, from the massive “Buffalo” to little Ace and Barney. In every sense, she was a nurturer.

She also made lasting impressions on her great-grandchildren, who were fortunate to enjoy her famous potato pancakes, her gentle presence, and the comfort of her warm handholds.

A devoted Catholic, Zuzanna’s faith guided every chapter of her life. Having endured loss, war, and displacement, she trusted deeply in God’s providence and lived her life as a servant of the Lord through humility, service, and love.

Her legacy lives on in the lives she shaped and the values she instilled. She is remembered as a loving wife, mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, great-grandmother, friend, community member and woman of faith whose strength and grace defined her life.

She is reunited in Heaven with her beloved husband John Novak, and continues to be loved, deeply and forever, by the family she helped build and the generations who carry her example forward. Thus, after 101 years this closes the final chapter of a life well lived for this Cinderella and her Prince Charming.

She leaves behind her son Frank Novak and wife Marie of Haverhill and daughter Manya Novak-Levin and husband Stan of Alexandria, VA; five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren; Jacqueline Novak Layreau and her husband Pierrick and their children Celine and Paul; Johnathan Novak; Jessica Novak Titus and her husband Jeff; Kazia Levin and her son Harrison; Stasia Levin.

Visitation will be held on Friday, January 9, in the Driscoll Funeral Home, 309 So. Main Street, Haverhill, from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM. Ceremony will begin at 1:00 PM. In lieu of flowers donations in Zuzanna’s name may be made to Sweet Paws Rescue 310 Main Street, Groveland, MA 01834 or the MSPCA at Nevins Farm 400 Broadway, Methuen, MA 01844. For guestbook, visit www.driscollcares.com

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