In 1991, Chuck Norris suffered the biggest shock of his life when he discovered that he had fathered a child during an affair.
The late Norris had an affair with his first wife, Diane Holecek, and another anonymous woman, resulting in the birth of their daughter, Dina, in 1964.
Norris didn’t know Dina, now 62, existed for another 26 years until she contacted her famous father.
“I was checking the mail at home and this letter caught my eye and I opened it,” Norris recalled in a 2004 interview with Entertainment Tonight.
“It’s from Dina…and she said, ‘I’m your daughter because of my past experiences.’ And she said, ‘I found out you were the father when I was 16, but my mother said I shouldn’t interfere in the family because you’re married.’
According to the Daily Mail, Norris said in his 2004 memoir, “Against All Odds: My Story,” that he read a letter he wrote to his mother and that her mother agreed to meet Dina first.
And after they did so at home, Norris’ mother called her son and told him to come right away.
“When I walked into the living room, I almost had my breath knocked out,” Norris wrote in his book.
“There was a beautiful young woman standing in front of me,” he said of Dina. “I was shocked, but I knew it as soon as I saw her. I didn’t need a DNA test or a blood test. There was no doubt in my mind that she was my daughter.”
“I felt as if I had known her all her life,” Norris added after the two hugged and started crying.
After their first meeting, Norris and Dina developed a very close relationship.
“I am blessed to have her as my daughter,” he wrote in his memoir. “Yes, I now know that God does not condone premarital or extramarital sexual relations. But I also know that there is no such thing as an ‘illegitimate child.'”
“Every baby is valid in God’s eyes, and every child is precious in God’s eyes.”
Three years before hearing from Dina, Norris broke up with Hallcheck after 30 years of marriage. The former couple had two sons, Mike, now 63, and Eric, 60.
Norris writes in his book that after learning that Dina was divorced, he decided to contact him.
“That’s when she decided to write to me with her husband Damien’s permission,” the fighter said.
Dina is still married to Damien and they have three children.
They all appeared in one of Norris’ Facebook photos from a 2015 family trip to Hawaii.
“Here’s a family photo from Kauai. This time it’s my daughter Dina, her husband Damian, and our sons Dante and Eli,” Norris captioned the post.
In 1998, Norris married his second wife, Gina O’Kelly, and they have twins, Dakota and DaniLeigh, who are now 24 years old.
The twins have each paid their own tributes to the Hollywood star, who passed away suddenly on Thursday at the age of 86.
Dakota wrote on Instagram that she admired Norris “all of my life.”
“Your generosity, kindness, courage, integrity, strength, discipline, and faith in the Lord are just a few of the things I have always admired about you,” Dakota said.
Meanwhile, DaniLee called her “loving father” her “protector” and admitted that “losing a parent is something you can never prepare for.”
“My father loved so deeply and cared for everyone in his life with such tenderness,” she wrote in her eulogy.
Norris’ family announced Friday that he had a medical emergency in Hawaii and died the previous morning.
“To the world, he was a martial artist, an actor, and a symbol of strength. To us, he was a devoted husband, a loving father and grandfather, a wonderful brother, and the heart of our family.”
