Born on December 27, 1918, John Novicky has the dubious distinction of being the "veteran" of this year's Hall of Fame class.
He attended Sts. Cyril and Methodious Grade School, first attending Ursuline High School from 1933-34, attending South High School from 1935-37, then re-entering Ursuline High School in 1938 until his graduation the following year.
He spent time working at several odd jobs, then entered the United States Army on January 13, 1942, doing his basic training at Hunter Field (Atlanta, Ga.) in the Army Air Force. He received a medical discharge after 23 months, spending 11 months service with the 10th Air Force in India.
He was one of the first veterans (1944) to attend then Youngstown College under the G.I. Bill, graduating in June of 1948 with his B.S. in Business Administration degree. During his time on the Penguin campus, he was most instrumental in helping the golf program get started with Dr. Joseph Smith. Basketball was the first sport organized intercollegiately, beginning with the 1927-28 season, tennis began in 1937, football had its beginning in 1938 while through the efforts of both Dr. Smith and John Novicky, golf had its start in time for the 1946 season and was the fourth intercollegiate sport started at then Youngstown College.
He played on the first two Penguin golf teams (1946 and 1947), helping them to a 7-3 and 9-4 dual match mark respectively. Their combined 16-7 overall mark represented the most wins in the first two seasons of any intercollegiate team at that time. While he played for just the first two seasons, it was through his organizing efforts with D. Smith that the program was able to sustain itself and compete on the level that it does today. He would not allow the program to fall by the wayside
A member of the Phi Sigma Epsilon fraternity while a Penguin, he was also a student manager of the football team (1946), and you might just say that his involvement with Penguin athletics has kept him as arguably the school's biggest fan.
A member of the Penguin Club and Curbstone Coaches Association, he is a lifetime member of the Alumni Association and as a member of the YSU Grid Vets organization, was involved in the purchase of the life-sized portraits of Penguin football coach Dike Beede and basketball head mentor Dom Rosselli, both of whom have their portraits still hanging in the main lobby of the Beeghly Physical Education Center.
Married to the former Katherin J. Hoover for 47 years, he is the father of 10 children and 15 grandchildren.
