POLIVKA, NICHOLAS

Nicholas Polivka, 85, born September 1934 in Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania, passed away March 25, 2020. Nick was the youngest of eight children. Nick’s hero was his mother Anna Kuba Polivka who raised her eight children alone after the passing of her husband just weeks before Nick was born. Nick is survived by his wife of 54 years Grace, daughter Nicole (Michael) Collins and twin granddaughters Payton and Emerson Collins of Wallingford, son Craig Polivka of Hamden, sister Justine Kopunek of Nequehoning, PA.

Nick was notorious for telling tales about his life of adventures from his days as a merchant seaman to his stint in the U.S.Army (“... the best time of my life”) to earning his private pilot’s license, walking the Appalacian Trail, and playing on the award-winning Wallingford Park Rec Silver Sneakers basketball team. His mantra was “When it’s too tough for everybody else, it’s just right for me.” This determination took him from his small, coal-mining town to Philadelphia’s Drexel University where at age 27 he played college football while earning a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. Upon graduation, he moved to Connecticut to work for Wallingford Steel Company (Allegheny Ludlum). Upon retirement in 1997, Nick planned a series of life-challenging experiences including walking the famed Appalacian Trail from Connecticut to Palmerton, Pennsylvania, rounding-up cattle as a modern day cowboy and breaking three ribs, rafting down rivers in Colorado, and dog-sledding in Montana, which he admitted was not as idyllic as in the movies. Nick always began his conversations with strangers this way: “If I told you about my life, you’d think I was the biggest liar you ever met.” A life well-lived, Nick will be missed. Funeral arrangements will be private at the request of the family.