ROCKLAND — Esther W. Novicka, 94, passed peacefully with her loving granddaughter by her side, Wednesday, June 9, 2021, at the Owls Head Homestead.

Born in Rockland, September 4, 1926, she was the daughter of Chester Wilson and Golden Haskell Munro. Educated in Rockland schools, she was a 1944 graduate of Rockland High School.

On November 11, 1944, she married Neil Charles Novicka in Rockland, where they made their home and raised their family.  

Esther was first employed as a licensed hairdresser at Gilberts Beauty Shop. She worked in the law offices of attorneys Stuart Burgess and Harold Wilbur and later worked at Laverdieres Drug Store in Augusta. From 1959 to 1976 she ran her own beauty shop in Rockland, and also worked part time with The Electric Shop. In 1976 she became a Mary Kay Beauty Consultant and built that business to the level where she received the Northeast Division Award. She continued working as a Mary Kay Representative until her passing.  

Neil and Esther had a lakeside cottage on Crawford Lake, where they spent their summers from the 40s on. In 1991 her husband, Neil, and she started wintering in Sun City Center, Florida, which she continued to do after Neil’s passing in 2011, until 2017 when her health began to decline.

Always active in her community and with a gregarious personality, Esther was a Past Matron of the Order of the Eastern Star, Golden Rod Chapter, a member of the Penobscot View Grange, a member of the Lady Lions Club of Rockland, where for two years she served as Queen Lioness, a member of the Rockland Rebekah’s Lodge, the White Shrine of Belfast, a member of the Rockland Congregational Church, a past member and President of the South School PTA.

For many years, she enjoyed organizing Rockland High School Class of 1944 monthly luncheons in the summers while she was home. 

Esther was known by many as “Meme” and had an outgoing and humorous personality making her the life of the party wherever she went, even into her 90s. She loved to play Bingo and cribbage and not much could keep her from missing her favorite shows, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. 

Other than her parents, Esther was predeceased by her husband; son Neil “Al” Novicka in 2015; four siblings, Madeline Economy, Dorothy Childs, Albert C. Munro and Chester W. Munro.

She is survived by her son Charles “Chuck” Novicka of West Rockport and Augusta; her grandchildren, Corey Novicka and his wife Jennifer, Christine “Cookie” Novicka, Vanessa Novicka all of Rockland, Eric Novicka and his wife Jennifer of Tennessee; her great-grandchildren, Sierra and Riley Sprague, Cassidy, Reese, and Lucas Novicka, Peter Novicka, Amanda Tardiff, Aikman Spear, and Xavier Kroenig; four great-great grandchildren; many nieces and nephews as well as her special life-long friend, Florence Hamilton of Florida.

A graveside service will be held Thursday, June 24, 2021, at 10 a.m., at Maine Memorial Veterans Cemetery, Mount Vernon Road, Augusta. Arrangements are in the care of Burpee, Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home, Rockland. 

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to the Shriner’s Hospital for Children, Donation Dept., 516 Carew St., Springfield, MA 01104. 

To share a memory or story with Esther’s family, please visit their online Book of Memories at www.bchfh.com.