Robert J. Novy, 83, spent his career as an auditor and tax manager for United Air Lines, then helped senior citizens in Mt. Prospect and Arlington Heights do their taxes as an AARP volunteer for 10 years. “There were days that tax work was pretty grueling, but he kept doing it,” said his wife, Arlene. “He believed you should do something for other people,” said his daughter, Roberta DeVetter. Mr. Novy died, apparently of a heart attack, Monday, Feb. 2, in his home in Arlington Heights, where he lived for 42 years. Born in Chicago, he grew up in Cicero, graduating from Morton High School in 1937. He earned a business degree at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and was headed to Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Mass., when World War II broke out and he was drafted. A sergeant in the Army, he was part of an artillery unit that spent much of the war in Paris, serving from the end of 1941 until his discharge in 1945. He returned to Chicago and joined United as a staff auditor, traveling the country to track numbers at different United locations. He met his wife, a secretary for the airline’s auditing department, and they got married in 1949. The couple lived in Cicero until 1961, when they moved to Arlington Heights. He retired as the airline’s income tax manager in 1985. Mr. Novy was an usher at Our Lady of Charity Catholic Church in Cicero, St. James in Arlington Heights and St. Raymond de Penafort in Mt. Prospect. In addition to his wife and daughter, other survivors include a son, Robert; a sister, Marie Rybacki; and two grandsons. Visitation will begin at 9 a.m. Friday, with mass following at 10 a.m. in St. Raymond De Penafort Church, 301 S. I-Oka Ave., Mt. Prospect.
