Elizabeth “Betty” Hovark Sykora, birthdate Oct. 8, 1919, passed away at 102 years young on Dec. 28, 2021. She was born in Phillips, Wisconsin to Czechoslovakian emigrant parents, James and Josephine Hovark. When she was four, the family moved to a farm in Elsanor, Alabama where she learned to speak English from her elementary school teacher and grew up as the oldest of eight children. In 1942 she married Joseph “Joe” Frank Sykora and raised four children on a small farm near Loxley, Alabama.
Joe passed away in 1971 and Elizabeth chose to remain a widow. She is also preceded in death by her parents, son Robert, brother James, sisters Josephine, Rose, Violet, Mary and grandchild Lauren.
She is survived by her children Allen (Arlene), Linda Gilmore (Dwain) and Glenn (Tampa), sister Lillie Hovark Ard, brother Jimmy Hovark, six grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and three great-great-grandchildren plus numerous nieces and nephews.
She attended Christ Presbyterian Church in Daphne, Alabama and Christian Fellowship Church in Fairhope, Alabama.
In her 102 years, she was a loving and caring daughter, sister, wife, mother and friend. She will be sorely missed on this Earth, but we will surely see her again in heaven.
In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that memorials in honor of Elizabeth be sent to Christ Presbyterian Church, 8450 Whispering Pines Road, Daphne, AL 36526 (designated for the church mortgage) or Christian Fellowship Church, 329 South Greeno Road, Fairhope, AL 36532.
John 14:1-4
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”
A funeral service was held Friday, Dec. 31, 2021, at 10 a.m. from the chapel of Mack Funeral Home with Pastor John Brown and Reverend Carter Mills officiating. Burial will be in the Baldwin Memorial Cemetery, Robertsdale, Alabama.
Funeral arrangements by Mack Funeral Home & Crematory, Hwy. 59 Robertsdale, Alabama. 251-947-7781. www.mackfuneral.com.
