Judith Antoinette Marie Novak

Judith Antionette Marie Bauer Novak was born to Vincent and Antoinette Bauer on March 28th, 1946, in St. Louis, Missouri. She often talked about growing up in a three story, three generation brick home near Anheuser Busch brewery. The house is standing to this day, one of only four remaining on Wyoming Street. She used to talk about roller skating to the brewery to watch the stable hands groom the Clydesdales before the giant horses were moved out of the city to Grant's Farm. Judith also worked as a teller in a bank downtown and was able to watch the construction of the St. Louis arch in 1963. She graduated from St. John High School in St. Louis in 1964, and though she lived in Kansas and then Oklahoma for more than half her life, she always considered St. Louis home.

Judith had two children, David Blake and Rebecca Judith. During their childhoods she was a stay-at-home Mom which was common for the time, as was sewing Halloween costumes and baking theme cakes for birthdays. She loved animals almost as much as her kids, and was once told by a friend, "When I die, I want to come back as one of your animals." Judith had many friends over her lifetime earning the honorary title of "sister" from more than one, and "Momma Judi" from friends of her daughter. Her smile and her laugh were one of a kind and two of the first things people often remember about her.
Judith loved to write and enjoyed sharing her stories and poems with friends and family. She also took pleasure in meditative self-appraisals and daily prayer, journaled nearly every day of her life, and was an avid gardener. She could bring nearly any plant back from the brink to flourishing. On one occasion she was given a Schefflera with only two sets of leaves on it. Within a few years everyone who wanted a cutting had one, and she still had a plant nearly too large to move when the seasons changed. I think of all the things she had to give up while she was sick, gardening was the one she missed the most.

In August of 2019 she was diagnosed with stage four composite hemangioendothelioma and began a twenty-month battle that included chemotherapy, periodic trips to MD Anderson, and countless PET and blood tests. In February of 2022 she made the difficult decision to stop treatment and allowed the disease to run its course ending with her passing on Friday, May 6th, 2022. Her dear friend, Karel, and daughter, Rebecca, were nearly constantly at her side throughout her last week and were holding her hands and telling her how much she was loved during her last breaths.
Judith's absence leaves a hole in the lives of the many who are blessed having had the chance to know and love her.

A Memorial Service will be held at Schaudt's Funeral Home at 5757 South Memorial Drive in Tulsa on Thursday, May 12th, at 6pm.