Edward Gerard Novak, a retired banker who had served as the chairman of the boards of the Baltimore Museum of Industry and the Maryland Food Bank, died Sunday of prostate cancer at University of Maryland Medical Center. He was 55 and lived in Baldwin.
Mr. Novak, the son of a Westinghouse Electric Corp. worker and a homemaker, was born in Baltimore and spent his early years in Violetville.
In the 1960s, he moved with his family to Eldersburg and graduated in 1973 from South Carroll High School.
After graduating from Bridgewater College in Bridgewater, Va., with a bachelor's degree in business and economics in 1977, he went to work for the old Equitable Trust Co.
Later promoted to branch manager, Mr. Novak remained with the bank after its subsequent acquisition by Maryland National Bank, NationsBank and finally Bank of America in 1999.
When Mr. Novak retired two years ago from Bank of America, he was senior vice president of performance and profitability measurement.
"People remember him as an excellent mentor who was incredibly dedicated to young people and as a person who always gave 200 percent," said Brooke Hodges, a senior vice president with Bank of America.
For years, Ms. Hodges said, Mr. Novak enjoyed playing Santa Claus for the children of the bank's employees.
Mr. Novak also lent his time and business acumen to the Baltimore Museum of Industry and the Maryland Food Bank.
He was chairman of the board of the Maryland Food Bank from 1995 to 2001.
"He was my rock at the bank, and he arrived at the food bank at a difficult time," said William G. Ewing, who was executive director for two decades until stepping down in 2007.
"We were in transition and trying to find ourselves when Ed came in and balanced my slightly erratic management style and helped us mature," he said.
"He was not a flashy wheeler-dealer but a very steady and thoughtful influence. I could talk with him, and he always gave me straightforward answers. You could never ask him to do too much," Mr. Ewing said.
When Mr. Novak stepped down as food bank board chairman, Bank of America made a $10,000 donation to the organization in recognition of his work.
During his tenure, the food bank received the Standards for Excellence Award from the Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations for its ethics and accountability practices.
