"The Best Family Martial Arts Program In Blacksburg"

A Memorial for Julia Novak

Share you thoughts and memories with us

 

"Julia was an awesome person. Funny, reliable, dedicated, fiercely loyal to her friends. Always involved in things at the school. The first to raise her hand and volunteer for anything. A great teacher in TKD that always tried different things to help motivate and make things fun for the kids she taught here...and the adults too. We were very lucky and blessed to be able to be here this past weekend with her at the school during testing. Her look at things always helped my perspective and I had the greatest respect for her and her opinions. I'm really going to miss her." ~ Sean Abbott

"Julia was a very special individual. She made the most out of everything that she set out to do. Julia and I have grown so much closer over the past couple of years here at the tkd school. Her love for her cats, family and tkd is something that we have in common. I will miss her contagious laugh and smile and cheerfulness to life. HeR love for knitting is something else! My daughter (Emily) has a blanket that Julia made for her. We will cherish this forever and all of the times we had spent together. ~Teresa Abbott 

Julia will be sorely missed by me and my family.  It was great to have her as a fellow student.  I will miss her smile and her laugh and our contests to see who had the most braces in their bag.  It was an honor to sit with her this past weekend, and I will savor every moment.  Our best to her family.  She will be missed.            ~Chris, Cathy, Cadmann, Caetlyn, Ceara Nichols


Julia was so patient as she worked with the kids and she always took the time to explain what they needed to do.  Colin loved having her as an instructor and I won't forget the time at testing when he refused to go out on the floor to do his form and Julia patiently took him downstairs and watched him go through it, encouraging him all the way.  You will be greatly missed!
Colin, Dawn, Les and Allison Wilson

Julia will be greatly missed.  She was the first at the school person at the school to kick me across the room.  She was so scared but I got up and told her that i should have blocked her kick.  We had a nice laugh and went back to sparing.  She was very good person and we will miss her in class.  We will miss the smile on her face and the laughs we had.
 
Carol, Steve, Brittany and Chelsea Smith

We are very shocked and saddened by the passing of Julia Novak. We have a
contribution from our family for the memorial page
 
"Our son Neal Klemba enjoyed his Orange/Green belt classes with Ms Novak
very much. She had the perfect combination of enthusiasm, firmness, patience
and kindness as a teacher. During class she would often ask the children for
an example of how they had applied a tenet of TKD in the prior week. I
thought that was a special way to help them realize that the tenets should
and could be extended to their everyday life. Our family will miss Julia.
-Michael, Neal, Kyle Klemba and Seema Dalal"

I had the pleasure of knowing Julia for several years.  We started doing TKD at about the same time when we both belonged to The Weight Club in Blacksburg.  I can remember struggling through numerous workouts with her in the early days of our journey towards black belts.  It was a pleasant surprise when I saw her at TKD America.  I hadn't seen her in about a year and didn't realize that she was training there.  Knowing someone at the new school made my transition much easier.  I will remember Julia for her smile and her positive attitude.  I will miss her.  ~ Mark Horton 

My family and I will miss Julia dearly. She always had a smile and a kind word. I will remember her as I saw her last. Sitting with friends, smiling, offering a calming presence that seemed to radiate around here. She was always thinking of others and reaching out to help. God bless you Julia. You touched our hearts and we will miss you always.  

Dave, Heidi, Erica and Gretchen Sallee
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Novak,
  I wanted to tell you what a great friend Julia has been to me.  She always encouraged me and helped me pass my tests.  When I didn't win a medal at a tournament she made me feel like I was still a winner.  She helped me in every way she could and I will miss her forever.
 
                                         Sincerely,
                                          Alder Bauer

 
I would like to tell Miss Novak's family that I will miss her very much and I am thankful 
for the time Miss Novak spent teaching me Tae Kwon Do. It was a fun experience with her.
 
Brittany Bailey
 
Julia's family: I am the parent of a TKD student, and it has been an amazing experience watching
 "Miss Novak" work with the young students of TKD! Just this past Saturday, your daughter/sister spent 
some one-on-one time with Brittany,right before her testing. As always, she gave Brittany some tips to be 
sure her form was in "tip top shape" for testing. And then, she gave her a hug and said she looked great! 
Right after their time together, Brittany was called for testing, and she was ready and she passed. 
This is just one example of how great an influence Julia was on her students! 
We are thankful for Julia and we will miss her. 
 
Lynda Bailey
"I met Julia when we were both testing for our orange belts.  As we trained together and moved up through the belt ranking system, she was the best person to practice forms with and a great person to work with on new sparring combinations.  She was always fearless and was the first to be everyone's friend.  She has a spirit that can never be crushed and a smile that will last forever.  She will absolutely be missed.   -- Allison Raines"

Our family has been deeply saddened by the loss of Julia. She was a beautiful person who was the absolute embodiment of the courtesy, integrity, perseverance, and indomitable spirit that are the hallmarks of Tae Kwon Do. Julia was always a very dedicated teacher, who taught with patience and kindness. Our thoughts are with her family and friends. We wish you peace.
Sincerely,
Lucas, Lisa, and Dustin Machi

Our daughter Fiona was always happy and excited to have Miss Novak as an instructor.  A couple of months ago, my parents were in town to watch Fiona’s class, and my mom remarked specifically about Julia’s teaching – noting how detailed and kind she was to her students, and how closely she paid attention to their individual needs.  In the period of one class, she saw what we all did about Julia all the time. She made everyone feel special and acknowledged. Julia will be missed.

 

Dan, Kiley, Fiona, and James McMichael

Julia was an exceptional person. She always made the people around her feel good. She truly cared for all of the people at the
 TKD school. She not only said the tenets of Taekwondo before each class, but lived them every day. When she taught, you 
could see the passion for her students and her love for the art form. She wanted every person she taught to not just learn the 
art of Taekwondo, but to understand what they were doing, and to live the tenets. She was always patient and kind. Julia knew 
that I was very slow to learn forms, and was always willing to take the time to work with me, or anyone when help was needed. 
She pushed us to be better, both on the Taekwondo mat and off. We are better people for having known Julia. She was special!
Liz Hollie
It was difficult for me as an older adult to join an activity dominated by young agile people, but Julia Novak was one of the kindest most helpful people and her gentle perseverance encouraged me to keep trying when I felt hopelessly learning-disabled at the beginning. I don't know if I will be capable of Black Belt status but Julia helped me to see that all of us can do our best and be proud of each step along the way. Her support and encouragement convinced me to keep trying and I am confident I will continue to benefit from tkd forever, at whatever level I can attain. I am sad that I will not get to know her better, but be certain that she touched many many lives and the world is a better place because Julia Novak was in it.
Kay Schwink

A great person always willing to help people and make them better, and always always had a good attitude and always tried her best.
-Cassidy McRorie
 
An animal lover like me and always thought of others before herself
-Diane McRorie
 
 You are in our hearts

Ms. Novak was such a wonderful person. She was generous towards everyone and worked so hard to help and guide her students and even fellow instructors. Her jokes and smiles brought so much more happiness through tough and tiring workouts. She will be much missed.  Our best to her family.

Shaily & Sonia Amin

I’ve tried to write this several times this week and couldn’t get through it.  Since I met her at Abbott’s, Julia has been an inspiration to me.  Her kind words and enthusiasm encouraged me as both a student and instructor.  Her dedication to helping others  was motivation to myself and others to always do our utmost best and to push just a little harder.  I remember having to do my main form twice when testing to advance from senior red belt to probationary black belt – because Julia thought that I could do my form better, and I did.  She told me afterwards that she’d thought that my stances weren’t the best that I could’ve done the first time, but that I’d done well the second.  Even when giving criticism, Julia was kind and respectful of the other person.  After this last testing, she came up to me and complimented my sparring, which is something that I’m never, ever going to forget.  My family and I are saddened by her passing and we will miss her.

Jason, Nikki, Bronwyn and Philip Hubbard

Ms. Novak was one of the first people I met upon arriving at the blacksburg
school, she was outgoing and made me feel very welcome. I really enjoyed
getting to know her and hearing stories about all of her wonderful
trips/adventures (stories from India, her past time at VT and just general
conversation).
I think what I appreciated most about Julia Novak was the energy she
consistently brought to the school. Whether she was teaching class or
enduring a brutal cardio workout, she did so with a smile on her face. Her
witty remarks and general sense of humor helped me through many classes. She
was always polite, respectful, and outgoing. She was simply a pleasure to be
around, and she will be missed.
Dallas and Christen