Eva
Novotny (née Watzka)

1929 - 2025

It is with great sadness that we announce the peaceful passing of Eva Novotny at home on February 23rd, 2025, surrounded by her family.

Les Services Commémoratifs Mont-Royal / ​Mount Royal Commemorative Services

Obituary

Eva Novotny (née Watzka)

1929 - 2025

It is with great sadness that we announce the peaceful passing of Eva Novotny at home on February 23rd, 2025, surrounded by her family.

Eva was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia where she grew up and attended school until the age of 19.  In 1948, she and her mother fled after the communist takeover, crossing the armed border at night into Germany with a guide.  After spending over a year in refugee camps in Europe, Eva and her mother were reunited with her father Otto Watzka in Montreal, when Canada accepted the family for settlement.

Eva pursued her undergraduate studies at McGill University where she obtained a B.A. in European History in 1953.  While there, she met her beloved future husband Jan Novotny, also a refugee from Czechoslovakia.  They remained married for 68 years, until Jan’s passing in 2022. 

Eva had a lifelong interest in modern languages (of which she spoke five) and a passion for the Greek and Roman classics and archaeology.  Studying under Professor Guy Couturier, she later obtained a master’s degree in classical archaeology at the Université de Montréal.

Her warmth and vitality will forever be remembered and deeply missed by her friends and family, especially her son, John, and two daughters, Marie-Louise (Richard) and Anne-Marie (François), as well as four grandsons, Jason, Christopher (Aditi), Peter, and Philippe.