Better late than never, 93-year-old man adopts 54-year-old son

After forty years, 93-year-old Lee Bevelheimer decided it was finally time to officially adopt his foster son.

And while walking out of the Johnson County Courthouse Monday, he looked at his son Steve Harland, 54, and told him “it's the real deal,” now.

Though Harland said the adoption wasn't necessary to make him feel part of the family, Bevelheimer insisted making it legal before he died.

After losing his mother at the age four from a car accident, being taken away from his biological father, and years of being tossed from home to home, to finally running away, 14-year-old Harland showed up on Christmas Day at the home of Bevelheimer and his wife, Ellen - who died in 1989 - at their home in Henry County Ill., to foster children in emergency situations.

“He had no place to go and he just started eating there and sleeping there,” Bevelheimer said.

And they never looked back.

“Everything just clicked,” Harland said, noting he immediately started calling them mom and dad.

Over the years, the Bevelheimer's cared for around 200 children, with Harland being far older than the typical age of the ones they took in.

In fact, when Ellen told Lee they had another son, he replied, “I get a son every day.”

Although Bevelheimer's memory fades at times, his sense of humor and knack for great stories are still intact, said Kelly Quigley, the owner of Country View retirement home where he has lived for three years after moving from Muscatine.

“I think it's fabulous,” Quigley said when speaking of the father and son pair.

Bevelheimer said the talk of formally adopting Harland had come up for many years, but said not much thought was ever put into the idea until last October.

“You're supposed to make it official. It isn't right if you don't make it official,” he said. “It means more now I guess.”

Harland, has six children and lives in Barnette, Mo., with his wife, and is now formally part of the Bevelheimer famiy. He said it was their loving support that turned his life around - including helping him get his grades from F's to A's as a kid.

“All kids need a home,” he said. “Without them I wouldn't be where I am today.”