Paul Anthony Novelly*

IN MEMORIAM

It is with profound sadness to share the passing of Horatio Alger Chairman Emeritus Paul Anthony “Tony” Novelly (1943-2025) on Thursday, February 6, 2025.

The Horatio Alger Association had the privilege of inducting Tony Novelly as a distinguished Member in 2000. His life experiences truly reflected the Horatio Alger themes of overcoming humble beginnings to achieve great success. His father was a hard-working printer who never earned a lot, and his mother picked cotton during her childhood in Arkansas. Neither parent graduated from high school. Tony had two siblings, one a sister with Down’s syndrome, who died at age 11 during heart surgery. Knowing that education was the key to a better future, Tony Novelly worked in a grocery store to support his attendance at a private Catholic high school and at St. Louis University, from which he graduated in 1965 with a degree in finance. After working for several years for Shell Oil Company, he turned down a promotion that would have required moving to New York. He accepted a job with Apex Oil, a young independent oil company headquartered in St. Louis. Moving up quickly through the ranks, Tony determined he should either buy the business or leave. He invested all he had into a 10-year partnership with the other owner. Tony would go on to achieve great success. But in 1986, during the deregulation of the oil industry, he also faced daunting challenges. In 1987, of the 77 companies under the umbrella of Apex Holding Company, 52 declared Chapter 11 overnight. Tony worked diligently to pay off his debts and regain solid financial footing in just five years.

Tony Novelly believed that "it takes as much energy to think big as it does to think small, so most times I try to do things big." He brought this same approach in leading the Horatio Alger Association. Tony served as the Association’s president from 2010 to 2015, and then as chairman from 2015 to 2017. During this period, he worked with other Board Members to establish two new 501(c)(3) organizations, the Horatio Alger Endowment Fund and the Horatio Alger Association of Canada, and a host of other programs and services that will continue to benefit Members and Scholars for years to come.

Tony Novelly’s personal vision was to greatly elevate public awareness about the Association through an ongoing national visibility campaign. He felt that more Americans should know about our important mission, the values represented through presentation of the Horatio Alger Award, and the commitment of Members in assisting young people through education to share in the American Dream.

He also focused on the induction of men and women who will remain committed to its mission throughout their lives. To foster increased involvement, Tony expanded the autumn Board of Directors meeting into Membership and Board of Directors meetings, so that all Members and Life Partners could convene twice a year. Many of our Members will remember the International Membership and Board Meetings spearheaded by Kathy and Tony Novelly in Monte Carlo & Bordeaux (2011), and at venues in Venice, Paris, London, and the English countryside (2015). Through his inspirational leadership, the Association successfully completed two endowment campaign drives at the conclusion of each of these meetings.

Additionally, Mr. Novelly ensured that the Association was fiscally able to fund State Scholarships in all 50 states. He initiated scholarships for students in Quebec in honor of his friend and fellow Member, The Right Honourable Brian Mulroney, and he helped to create an endowment fund for the implementation of a national scholarship program for students across Canada.

In recognition of his remarkably effective leadership and in appreciation for his momentous and transformational contributions to the Horatio Alger Association, Tony was presented with the Norman Vincent Peale Award in 2018. We will always hold Tony Novelly’s memory in the very highest esteem and be grateful for the great advancements he initiated in carrying out the Association’s mission and programs.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Kathy Novelly, their family, and their many friends and associates.

BIOGRAPHY

Paul Anthony "Tony" Novelly was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1943, the oldest of three children in his family. Novelly's sister, who had Down syndrome, had a heart defect and died during surgery when she was 11. The family lived in a low-income section of St. Louis called "Dogtown," and they all shared the apartment's only bedroom.

Novelly's father made his living as a printer and became manager of a printing company. "I thought my dad was the greatest guy in the world," said Novelly. "He worked hard, but never made much money." Novelly's mother was raised in the hills of Arkansas, where she picked cotton as a child. Neither of his parents graduated from high school.

When asked about his childhood years, Novelly said, "Even though there was much love, we also had some turmoil. After my sister's birth, we all pulled together to meet her special needs. She was a blessing to us because she was so innocent, sweet, and loving. We would forever miss her."

Novelly began working when he was only seven. His first job was at a confectionery, stacking bottles and sweeping floors. When he was 12, he still worked after school and summers at the confectionery, but he also mowed lawns. When he was 14, the family moved to a small three-bedroom house in a suburb of St. Louis. He caddied at a golf course until he was 16, and then he went to work in a grocery store for the next six years. His first job at the store was bagging groceries, but by the time he left, during the second semester of his senior year in college, he was the store's manager of customer service.

Novelly had no real mentors growing up, but he did have a cousin he revered who attended the Christian Brothers College in St. Louis. Thinking it might be a good idea to follow in his cousin's footsteps, Novelly paid the tuition to Christian Brothers himself and took buses and hitchhiked to the school each day. "I didn't dream big dreams as a child," said Novelly. "I just wanted to have enough money to live comfortably, and I knew education was the key to that sort of life."

After high school, Novelly continued working full time at the grocery store and paid his own way through St. Louis University. He graduated in 1965 with a degree in finance and began working for Shell Oil Company in its credit card department. Novelly had 14 jobs in four years with Shell, gradually moving into supervisory positions. His next promotion would move him from Chicago to New York, but Novelly, who was now married with one child and another one on the way, wanted to return to his family in St. Louis. He turned down the promotion and accepted a job with Apex Oil, a young independent oil company headquartered in St. Louis.

He moved quickly through the ranks and became skilled at investing the company's large profits. In 1978, he decided he should either buy the business or leave. He invested all he had into a 10-year partnership with the other owner. "Everything I had was on the line, but I felt I was in a strong position because I had built or bought all our current assets," he said.

What Novelly could not predict, however, was the deregulation of oil, which caused the price of oil to fall from $36 to $10 a barrel by 1986. At that point, Novelly had built a huge organization that was the second-largest private company in the world. Banks shut off his credit and on Christmas Eve 1987, Apex Oil was put into bankruptcy. He had 77 companies under the umbrella of Apex Holding Company and 52 of those declared Chapter 11 overnight.

Determined to see his company through the crisis, Novelly sold off some real estate holdings and other assets. With 30 companies remaining, he began paying off his $40 million debt. What was supposed to take him 10 years took only 5. Apex is involved in the trading, refining, storage, marketing, and transportation of petroleum products. Novelly also controls AIC Ltd, a Bermuda-based oil trading company.

"It takes as much energy to think big as it does to think small, so most times I try to do things big," Novelly said, "You also have to try to make good decisions. We are all victims of every decision we have ever made."

Honored by his Horatio Alger Award, Novelly said he has great respect for the Association's members and what they represent. He feels that the opportunity and hope offered to the National Scholars will be the key that opens doors. "Education is the ticket to a great start, but only determination and endurance will succeed," he said. "There is no substitute for hard work. There are no shortcuts."