Dr. John Kovalik, 85, passed away tragically on March 24, 2015. A loving father and grandfather, his passion for people and the outdoors was well known by all his friends and family and everyone he met. He took great pleasure in living a simple, spiritual life yet it was filled with many accomplishments.
John was born in Berlin, NH on February 19, 1930, the oldest son of Ukrainian immigrants, Eli Kovalik and Theodora (Sych) Kovalik. He graduated from Berlin High School in 1948. While at Berlin High, he was a scholar and athlete and played basketball and baseball, earning all-state honors in baseball his senior year while helping the team to a state championship.
Following High School he attended the University of New Hampshire, where he met his wife, Shirley Robart, mother of his 4 children, graduating with a Masters in Chemical Engineering in 1953. Following college, he spent a short stint working at the Brown Company in Berlin. He then applied to, and was accepted into the U.S. Navy Officer Candidates School. After completion of OCS, he served his time as a Naval officer in Florida and New Jersey.
After leaving the Navy, he attended Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, graduating in 1962. Following his graduation, he continued on at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, CT, where he interned and did his residency in Oral Surgery. He then moved back to Berlin, which he lovingly referred to as “God’s Country” where he practiced Oral Surgery for nearly 30 years.
Even as he practiced Oral Surgery he managed to earn his private pilot’s license, and enjoyed flying all over northern New Hampshire out of the Milan airport. He was also an accomplished golfer, winning five club championships between the Androscoggin Valley Country Club and Waumbek Golf Course. Throughout his life he was also an avid skier, spending most weekday afternoons skiing at Wildcat Mountain into his early 80s. He told of skiing on barrel staves before he was able to afford his first pair of skis! He also loved to fly fish, hike the White Mountains, and was an avid worldwide traveler, going to Russia over a dozen times and other exciting places like Rio de Janiero, Peru, Europe and the Caribbean islands. He often said that he “was never bored a day in my life”; no wonder as his activities kept him busy all the time! He loved sports and competition, and enjoyed telling all who would listen many stories about his colorful life.
He will be greatly missed by all who knew him, most especially by his children and grandchildren, as he often said that “my family is my life”. Those children are
Dr. John Kovalik, Jr., and his wife Sheryl (Bicknell) of North Conway, NH; Pamela Schlieper and her husband Mark, of Rye, NH; Linda Kovalik of Randolph, NH; and Jeffrey Kovalik and his wife Marcia (Sullivan) of Newfields, NH. He is also survived by his six grandchildren, Alexandra and Tasha Kovalik, Korina and Kiley Schlieper, and Alexander and Katerina Kovalik. He is also survived by his brother Eli Kovalik of Somersworth, NH, and his wife Patty, and nieces and nephews Thomas Kovalik, Jennifer Santamaria, Janice Corriveau and Dierdra Link. He was predeceased by his sister Jenny Corriveau.
A Funeral Service will be held on Saturday April 4, 2015 at 4 PM at in the Chapel of the Bryant Funeral Home, 180 Hillside Ave., Berlin, NH. Relatives and friends may call at the funeral home from 2- 4 PM, prior to the service. In lieu of flowers please consider a contribution to the Mount Washington Observatory or a charity of your choice.