Timothy Propes lived 43 years thinking his father died before he was born. A DNA test proved he was wrong – Gainesville Sun

John Henderson|The Gainesville Sun

For more than 40 years, Timothy Propes didnt know he had a father, as his mother told him he had died before Propes was born.

But over the years, he yearned to know more about his other family members.

He never knew that a DNA test would result in him finding out that his father was actually alive and livesonly an hour away from his Gainesville home, but also that he also had four sisters.

Honestly, I was still under the impression that my father had passed away before I was born, so I was hoping that I could possibly find some aunts or uncles, some relatives, the 43-year-old Propes said.

Propes and his wife decided to try out the genetic testing firm, 23andMe, which discovered that he had an aunt who was a blood relative who lived in Orlando.

He said he wasnt that excited at first, as aunts and uncles are popular relatives, not thinking that if the woman was in fact his aunt, that her brother would have been his father.

He tried reachingout to her by friending her on Facebook, but she didnt initially accept his request.

After six months, he decided to try and friend his aunts husband on Facebook to relay the message to her.

I sent him a request and he fortunately accepted it without knowing who I was, Propes said.

The man then relayed the message to his aunt.

When he accepted it, I sent him this letter explaining that, I was linked to your wife. We are relatives. She came back as my aunt.Id really like to talk to her, Propes said. And then she accepted my request.

They talked on the phone, and initially, his aunt was skeptical that her brother was his father, Propes said.

But after seeing his picture, the aunt then realized not only that Propes was her brothers son. She also knew which of her two brothers was his father.

As soon as she saw my picture, shes like, 'Oh crap, (what a resemblance), Propes said.

The aunt did not want to comment for this story, nor did Propes' father.

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Propes, who has his own children and works for Lake Butler Reception & Medical Center correctional facility, said his mother, who is no longer alive, gave birth to him at the young age of 14.

He was raised by his grandparents.

My grandparents actually adopted me because she was only 15 and she couldnt really raise me, he said. I always kept in contact with my mom. Id see her during the summer time.

Over the years, he didnt question his mom about his father as he thought he was dead.

The man she thought was my father, she thought he had died when she was pregnant, Propes said. And she really didnt talk about him too much. I didnt have anything to go by, not even the name of the man she thought it was.

But as the years passed, he yearned to learn more about the rest of his extended family, as it seemed like he just knew about his immediate family.

As I got older, curiosity kind of got the best of me, especially when I started having a family of my own, Propes said. I just kind of wanted to know a little bit about my biological history and things of that nature.

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Propes said a couple of days after finally talking to his aunt, his father called him.

He learned that he lived in Green Cove Springs outside Jacksonville, about an hour drive from his home in Gainesville. It's also where Propes grew up.

We spoke for the first time, which went really well, Propes said. He was actually a lot calmer than Id thought hed be in that situation. We just kind of talked a little bit about my mom and the past.

In late March, Prope's father took a genetic test through23andMe, which confirmed thathe was his biological father.

He sent me a message with a screenshot of the results, Propes said. He just said, Welcome to the family, my long-lost son.

Propes said his father wanted to wait until April Fools Day to announce to his four daughters sisters Prope never knew he had that a son was also part ofthe family.

He wanted to play a prank on his daughters, Prope said. He had a little fun with it. We found out at the end of March so it wasnt too long before the family knew about it.

Propes then drove up to Green Cove Springs and met his father.

They hugged.

It was exciting, emotional, just a lot of feelings, Propes said. My wife has it on video. He was just walking out from his pier. He lives right on the water there in Green Cove Springs. We met in the front yard. We embraced. It was just surreal I guess you could say.

Tina Pearce, who also lives in the Jacksonville area, learned that Prope was her brother from the experience and has visited him several times at her fathers house.

It was kind of surreal because when my dad told us, it was on April Fools Day, so we thought he was just playing a prank, Pearce said. When we started looking at pictures it was just amazing how much he looked like our family. It was just crazy.

She said she wasnt there when her father first met Propes but she saw a video of it.

He was just kind of shocked and surprised, Pearce said. I dont think he had any idea.

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Timothy Propes lived 43 years thinking his father died before he was born. A DNA test proved he was wrong - Gainesville Sun