'Nicholas (Little Nick) Yackanich, Ex-HHS Football Star'

Nicholas Yackanich, 88, of West Palm Beach, FL, formerly of Beaver Meadows, PA, died suddenly at JFK Medical Center in Atlantis, FL after a brief illness.

A former Hazelton High football star, he played with the HHS teams of 1947 through 1949. He went to Penn State Hazelton Campus for one year after high school before enlisting in the U.S. Air Force and served in the Korean conflict.

After completing his military service, he worked briefly at Republic Aviation in Long Island, NY, the Buick-Pontiac-Oldsmobile manufacturing facility in Linden, NJ before enjoying a successful long-term career at Union Carbide in Bound Brook, NJ.  He relocated his family to North Miami Beach, FL in 1973 to work for the DowdFlor Corporation in Miami, FL and the ICL Corporation in Deerfield Beach, FL. He later retired in 1996 and spent his retirement years in the Lake Worth and West Palm Beach areas. He was a member of Holy Apostle Byzantine Catholic Community which held services at the St. Nicholas Melkite Catholic Church in Delray Beach, Fl.

Surviving are his wife, the former Evelyn Petruska, Beaver Meadows PA, and two children: Nicholas (wife Lisa and grandchildren Nicholas, Peter, Joseph and James) from Lake Worth, FL and Michael (wife Charlene and grandchildren Alison and Austin and great grandchildren Eliana and Anthony) from Williamsburg, VA.

The funeral will be held Monday, October 7 th at the Palm Beach National Chapel in Lake Worth followed by final committal service with military honors at the South Florida National Cemetery.