Henry (Hank) Nowak |
| Posted 2009-11-24 by Pat Wilson |
| Henry "Hank" Nowak, finance director for Cochise County since 1982, died Wednesday after a long battle with cancer. He was 57. As finance director for the southeastern Arizona county, Nowak worked closely with the Cochise County Board of Supervisors and oversaw all aspects of government spending. "It takes quite a balancing act to make sure we always stay afloat and he (Nowak) was always able to do that," Gene Manring, chairman of the board of supervisors, said yesterday. Rita Nowak said that her husband often worked following chemotherapy, and during one period commuted to Tucson five days a week for radiation treatment before going to work. "He never gave the appearance of being ill," she said. "He found cancer to be more of a nuisance than an illness." Before joining the county, Nowak was vice president for fiscal affairs at Cochise College for about six years. Nowak was born in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. He joined the Navy in February 1954 after graduating from high school. After his discharge in February 1958, he attended Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville. He received his bachelor's degree in music and accounting in the early 1960s. Nowak then moved to Phoenix and attended Arizona State University, where he began working towards a master's degree in accounting, said Mrs. Nowak. He moved to Bisbee in 1976 or 1977 to take a job as bursar with Cochise College before he could complete his master's degree, she said. He later was promoted to vice president of fiscal affairs and was responsible for the college budget until he left in 1982 to become finance director for Cochise County. Nowak is survived by his wife, Rita Nowak of Bisbee; a daughter, Tracy Nowak of Mesa; and a stepson, Todd Denton, of Tucson. He also is survived by his mother, Eva Nowak, and a sister, Eleanor Hycner, both of Buffalo, N.Y., and two grandchildren. A memorial service is pending. Arizona Daily Star December 15, 1991 |
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