Mary Ann Novotny

Funeral services for Mary Ann Novotny, age 97, of Norfolk, Nebraska formerly of Madison, Nebraska, will be 11:00 a.m. Friday, January 10, 2025, at Trinity United Methodist Church in Madison. Reverend Caitlin Bentzinger will officiate, with burial in Iowa Valley Cemetery in Madison.

The service will be livestreamed on the funeral home website.

Visitation will be one hour prior to the service.

Home for Funerals in Norfolk is in charge of arrangements.

Mary Ann entered the Eternal Gates of Heaven on Friday, January 3, 2025, at Heritage of Bel Air in Norfolk.

Mary Ann Novotny, daughter of Frank and Mary (Brosh) Storek, was born on July 26, 1927, in her farm home west of Madison. She attended District #28 rural school and graduated from Newman Grove High School in 1944. In her senior year, Mary Ann was designated Newman Grove High School Homecoming Queen.

On February 23, 1945, she married Donald D. Novotny, and they resided at their farm west of Madison. Together, along with their farming duties, the couple tended to Iowa Valley Cemetery. Mary Ann would live on their farm until her husband’s death in 2010, when she moved to an apartment in Madison. For the next 20 years, she lived in Madison during the summers and spent many months in the sunshine of Las Vegas with her daughter, Donna.

Mary Ann was famous for baking and cooking favorite dishes for her family. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes and corn topped all dishes each Sunday in her grandchildren's eyes. She also enticed her family's appetites by preparing her Czech potato dumplings, apple turnovers, and her poppy seed/apricot kolaches.

Mary Ann was a member of Trinity United Methodist Church in Madison and a former member of Fairview Methodist Church. She served her church in many capacities; usher, lunch committee, women’s society, and in the ZCBJ Lodge and Busy Fingers Extension Club. She attended Trinity United Methodist Church in Las Vegas on many a Sunday for the past twelve years.

Mary Ann is survived by her daughters, Sharon (David) Plugge of Norfolk and Donna Canfield of Las Vegas, NV; grandchildren, Mishelle (Jeff) Fields of Lincoln, NE, Kelly (Brett) Smith of Lakeville, MN, Brad (Didi) Lyon of Norfolk, and John (Jen) Lyon of Highland Ranch, CO; step-grandchildren, Amy (Norm) Stoll of Cedar Falls, IA, Jody (Mike) Peterson of Yutan, NE, and Brian (Elena) Canfield of Magnolia, MN; 24 great-grandchildren; and three great-great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Frank and Mary Storek; husband, Donald Novotny; and sister, Helen Finkral.

Memorials may be directed to Iowa Valley Cemetery in Madison County.

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