Melvin G. Novak, 74, of Naperville, an engineer and salesman for Interlake Steel in Chicago, died of kidney failure Wednesday, June 19, in Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove. Mr. Novak grew up in the Marquette Park neighborhood and graduated from Lindblom High School. He met his future wife, Margaret, in 1943 when he walked into a drugstore where she was working behind the soda counter. “He came in to make a phone call but came back by my counter on the way out,” recalled his wife. “I was working until 11 that night, and he wanted to come back and walk me home.” The two began dating, and a short time later, he joined the Navy, serving as an engineer from 1944 to 1946. The couple married in 1947 and moved to Evergreen Park. In the late 1950s Mr. Novak began working as an engineer and salesman for Interlake Steel in Chicago. He designed and sold steel racks to store everything from boats and carpet to clothes. The couple lived in Detroit for five years before Mr. Novak became co-president of a joint venture between Interlake and Kawasaki Steel of Japan. He lived in Japan for three years to help run the company, Kawatetsu/Interlake, returning to the Chicago area in 1974. Mr. Novak retired as general sales manager of Interlake in 1982. Other survivors include daughters Janet Flanagan Javor, Judith Doebler, Joyce Caulfield and Jeanine Bennett; 10 grandchildren; and a great-grandson. Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Friday in St. Raphael Church, 1215 Modaff Rd., Naperville.
