John Hovancak

John C. Hovancak, Jr., age 66, of Dodgeville, died Thursday, July 14, 2016, in an automobile accident in Potosi Township, Grant County. John was born on August 21, 1949 in Harvey, IL, the son of John & Vernabelle (Retzlaff) Hovancak, Sr.

John went to Ascension grade school and high school at Thorton Township. After attending Thorton Junior College, he took flying lessons for a pilot's license in 1968; he then enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. While stationed in Biloxi, MS in 1969, Hurricane Camille struck. His tech school was suspended and he was assigned to Rescue and Recovery duty and later to Shaw Air Force Base as an Electronic Warfare Technician, serving a F-4 Phantom Fighter Jet crew.

John learned piano and organ as a child, and as a teenager played as organist and a singer in several Rock 'n Roll bands, including Theodore Telephone. Later, John fixed and restored the family player piano and began his life work of building and restoring antique, automatic music machines and music boxes. His love of all different types of music was a big part of his life.

A project of restoring his parent's old player piano led him on a search of some parts. He was directed to Dave Ramey of Chicago Heights, IL, who had done work on various player pianos for Svoboda's Nickelodeon Tavern in the same area. John later became an apprentice to Dave in the restoration of mechanical musical instruments. They would later take trips to the Dodgeville area to work on instruments owned by Alex Jordan at the House on the Rock. John was later offered a full time position at the House on the Rock.

In 1972, he moved to Wisconsin with his then girlfriend, Rebecca Otterstedt, of Peoria, IL to design and build 8 major music machines displayed at the House on the Rock, with the help of Dan Meuer of Dodgeville. He recently redesigned, rebuilt and restored one of those machines in the "Streets of Yesterday", which he built over 35 years ago.

John continued to collaborate on the restoration of many, many orchestrions for various collectors. John's meticulous restorations and strife for historical accuracy required him to spend an immense amount of time conducting historical research, as some organs were rescued in all states of conditions. These historical wonders live on in major collections and museums around the world.

In the mid 1970's he received an unusual request. Maestro Frank Italiano, the conductor of the Symphony of the Hills, offered John the unusual experience of sitting in the center of an orchestra during a performance. This invitation came as a result of Italiano and orchestra students touring the House on the Rock and experiencing the collection of mechanical musical instruments under John's work. John was later to write about this experience to invite patrons to bid the opportunity to enjoy the same experience to raise funds for the symphony.

John "The Wiz" purchased a home in Dodgeville in 1974, having fallen in love with the area and the people. Becky and he married in March of 1984 in Las Vegas, and welcomed their daughter, Cassandra Diane, in September 1985, and son, Joshua John, in April 1989.

Being inspired by Flash Gordon as a child, John had an interest of model rocketry, and had won first place at the Illinois State Science Fair by launching a rocket containing a live mouse. Both rocket and mouse returned to earth safely (This was before the first moon launch). He shared this love of science and mechanical things with his son, Josh, and together they enjoyed many trips to model rocket launches and events around the United States.

John requested the song "America the Beautiful" by Ray Charles be played for him, "As the lyrics really mean what I feel about this country." John loved spending his free time being outdoors, reading, and being with his friends and his companion, Karen Cooley of Dodgeville.

John is survived by his daughter, Cassandra Hovancak, Brooklyn, NY; his son, Joshua Hovancak, Montfort, WI; and a sister, Nina Sparger, South Holland, IL.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

Please join us to celebrate the life of John "The Wiz" Hovancak Jr, onSunday, July 31, 2016, from 7:00 p.m.until dusk.Come share your memories and stories at "Bray's Pond", located at 4719 Brennan Road, Dodgeville.