They share a love of the military, a style for raising children and a favorite folk song about a cross-country train: Wabash Cannonball.

But 80 years and hundreds of miles have separated brothers Kenneth Corcoran and Naples resident Ed Muir. They reunited last month after a nine-year hunt.

Photo courtesy of the Cochran Family Edward Muir, 84, left and Kenny Corcoran, 82, right, were reunited after 80 years apart, separated as young children when they were sent to an orphanage.

"It's the best weekend I've ever had in my 81 years," Corcoran said.

Their meeting at an airport in Fargo, N.D. in July marked the first time the two have seen each other since 1932 when their father sent Corcoran and two more siblings to an orphanage following the death of their mother. Muir and another brother were raised by their father in Chicago.

"I worried about them," Muir said. "I often thought about the rest of my family how they ever turned out, but I had no idea."

Poor and with few options, Muir joined the Air Force in 1946. He later married and raised four children in Chicago. He worked as an electrician, retiring in 1987. He moved to Naples in 1997 with no prospects of finding his family. The brother he was raised with is dead.

Corcoran grew up in North Dakota and joined the Navy as a young man. He married and raised six children. He worked as a railroad lineman. The sister and brother he was raised with have since died.

But with the advent of the Internet, Corcoran's daughter Pam Gregerson, 42, made it her mission to reunite who was left among the five siblings. She spent nine years trying to trace names, birth dates and hometowns, but didn't realize until years into her search that Corcoran had adopted his mother's maiden name.

The trail went cold several times before Gregerson's teenage son did some hunting himself in July. Hours later, they were on the phone with Muir. Plane tickets were purchased the next day and soon, Muir and Corcoran were meeting for the first time since they were 4 and 2 years old, respectively.

"After 80 years there's a hell of a lot of catching up to do," Corcoran said.

The weekend went smoothly and the families hit it off instantly, Gregerson said.

Muir's daughter Kyle Elmer, 61, agreed.

"We got to meet all these new family members we didn't know we had," she said.

The similarities between Muir and Corcoran were a surprise for all.

"The two families never seemed so much alike. We got together and joked and it wasn't two or three days later, it was right from the start," Corcoran said. "Well that's family. That's the way it goes."

Several family members have offered to buy Corcoran's plane tickets to see Muir. When the time is right, he wants to make that trip out to Florida.

"I want to see him every day," Corcoran said.

Muir, too, is looking forward to a time when they can get together again "before we pass on."

"Eighty years is a long time being separated," said Muir, 84. "It's sad to think of all those lost years. I don't know how to make up for it. I just told him I'm glad we were able to get in touch with one another."

Corcoran said God had a hand in the reunion that's given him peace of mind after so many years.

"We'll see each other again if the good Lord's willing," the 81-year-old said. "We're not going to make it another 80 years before we see each other."

By KRISTINE GILL

Source: naplesnews.com