By Amy White 
The Texas Catholic 

PLANO — The lunchtime chatter in St. Mark Catholic School’s cafeteria rose to a cheerful clamor when Judge Tom Nowak arrived in uniform on Oct. 4 to surprise his son Aleks after a 6-month deployment in Qatar. 

The surprise reunion at the school was Tom’s idea. A lawyer for the U.S. Air Force, Tom had been apart from his wife, Christine, and two children, Ali, 14, and Aleks, 12, while serving in the Middle East. During that time, the Nowak family sacrificed some big moments they would have otherwise spent together, including Ali’s confirmation and her eighth-grade graduation from St. Mark.

Anticipating his return to Texas this month, Tom wanted his reunion with each of his children to be a special moment; and he thought their schools would be the perfect places to surprise them.  

“So much of their lives are here,” he said. “So, it makes it much more fun.” 

To surprise his son, a sixth-grade student at St. Mark, Tom enlisted the help of the Plano school’s principal, Pam Steinkirchner. She was happy to contribute. 

“We are like family here… No matter where the families are, they are still connected to St. Mark,” Steinkirchner explained. “The whole [Nowak] family has been really involved at St. Mark.”   

Although Tom initially planned to surprise Aleks upon his return to Texas Oct. 1, violence abroad delayed his travel home. On Oct. 4, he finally arrived in Texas and traveled to St. Mark to reunite with Aleks. 

As planned, Steinkirchner entered the cafeteria at lunchtime and made an announcement to the students: She would be drawing a name out of a bag as part of a special “Caught Being Good” drawing. Steinkirchner pulled a slip of paper from the bag, announced that Aleks’ name had been selected, and invited him to the microphone, where she asked him what prize he would like to receive as the winner of the drawing. 

“More recess for middle school,” was Aleks’ response—a request that was met with thunderous applause by the students.  
“I can’t do that,” Steinkirchner said, “[but] I might be able to do this.” 

At that moment, Tom made his entrance into the cafeteria and, with a huge smile across his face, embraced his son. Aleks held onto his dad, burying his head in Tom’s shoulder. The room echoed with the students’ cheers and applause. 

“As a dad, you’re like, ‘I don’t know if he’s going to cry; if he’s going to be happy, freeze,’” Tom said. “I was glad to see all the kids cheering for him. It was a lot of fun.”  

Judge Nowak’s wife, Christine, was also present for the reunion. 

“My son had really, really missed him,” she said. “I know how happy he is that his dad’s home.” 

“I was just really happy,” Aleks said, smiling. “[I] feel like it’s my birthday.”  

Following the St. Mark visit, the Nowaks made their way to Ursuline Academy of Dallas to surprise their daughter, Ali, in celebration of the family’s reunion. 

“Six months is a lot more than you realize that it’s going to be,” Christine said. “We are thrilled that he’s home.”   

Cutline for featured image: Judge Tom Nowak hugs his son Aleks Nowak, a sixth-grade student at St. Mark Catholic School in Plano, after reuniting with him at the school on Oct. 4. (AMY WHITE/The Texas Catholic)