80th birthday surprise meeting family for the 1st time

One of Denis’s gifts for his 80th birthday was a book of his family tree now complete. The McNamara’s will be visiting with their brother until they go back to Canada on Monday.

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) - A surprise 80th birthday party for a local retired member of the U.S. Marine Corps. reunited long-lost siblings from Canada. Denis Blais was told he was attending a baby shower instead.

Born in Canada, Capital Region resident, Denis Blais, never met his father but was told as a young adult that he had eventually married and had more children. His adoptive family in the States said he always wondered about everyone back home.

"Comments about his father and wanting to know his father and who his father’s people are," described his niece, Karen Praisner.

The McNamara family also had questions about their family tree. They eventually signed up for 23andMe, a DNA service that follows family ancestry. Just two samples of saliva led them to Denis.

"He had put a little blurb in saying he knew he had many siblings. So I’m one of six. And his father was Canadian and his last name was McNamara, which is my maiden name," explained his half-sister, Carol Macmillan.

His half-siblings questioned how they could have a brother in New York. Many phone calls and record searches later came with an answer.

"He was born in Canada, apparently. His mother came from just across from the Ottawa River from my dad. So my dad was on one side of the Ottawa River and his mom was on the other," stated Macmillan.

COVID and family health delayed the McNamara’s from meeting their long-lost family member for two years.

"What's even better is they're all so lovely. Like, they seem like him! To imagine that opened up literally a whole new world. That is wild," said his great-niece, Stacey Schipano.