SAN LEANDRO, Calif. -- When 30-year-old Geoff Ball applied for a job with the Alameda County Sheriff's office, the man who grew up an adopted child had no idea it would lead to his being reunited with his biological family or that two of those family members would also serve as sheriff's deputies for the county.

The extended “family” of Alameda County Sheriff's Deputies grew Friday morning as the 140th class of recruits graduated from the academy.

But this class involves an unusual family affair. Recruit Geoff Ball is graduating with the help of two generations of deputies in his own family that he didn't even know existed until seven months ago.

"My grandfather is a retired deputy, and my uncle is a lieutenant with ACSO," explained new recruit Ball. "It completely threw me off guard. I mean, I really was not expecting that."

Ball didn’t know about these family members connected to the department because was adopted just after being born.

"For 30 years, when Geoff's birthday would come around, my daughter and wife would always celebrate his birthday. So he's always been in our minds," says retired Deputy William Harlan, Ball's biological grandfather.

But even though the family would think of the child that was given up for adoption occasionally, they couldn’t have anticipated meeting him as an adult through such unusual circumstances.

"Obviously I knew of Geoff at the time he was born. However, when I first heard he came back into our lives, it was a phone call from my mom that he had contacted us, contacted my sister," remembers Lt. Dean Stavert, Ball's biological uncle.

Through the sheriff's office background checks, Ball learned of these members of his biological family and was able to contact them. That's when he found out the family is not just knee-deep in law enforcement, but from the same department he's joining.

"We always wondered, when are we going to get to meet this guy? Will we get to meet him? And then through becoming a deputy, we get to meet him. I mean, how much better could it be? It makes us really proud," enthuses Harlan.

It appears the old adage "The fruit doesn't fall far from the tree" couldn't be more true with this family. Even months after learning the exciting news, there's no hiding the touch of shock and surprise in Ball's voice when he discusses the unusual turn of events.

"How can somebody be adopted -- and be 31 years old next month -- start a new career, then meet your biological family? And [to then] find out that they are in the same career path that I'm getting in right now? I mean, that's just very odd," says Ball, shaking his head with a laugh.

Despite all the attention for such a story, the star of many family gatherings is 21-month old Shannon, Geoff and Stacy Ball's young daughter and the apple in her grandfather's eye.

For his part, Geoff Ball has learned he has two younger half-brothers: one 22-years-old, the other ten.

"When you are adopted, you live your whole life wondering what your life would have been if you would have stayed with your biological family. So, you really don't know what to expect. There's nothing wrong with that. You already have your life, as it is. But there's always a question in the back of your mind," explains Ball.

Happy as he is to have found these members of his family, the new recruit was even happier to to share the important milestone with them. At his Friday morning graduation ceremony, Ball's grandfather and uncle presented him with his sheriff's star.