Feb 6, 2009 11:56 pm US/Pacific
Ben Lomond Madoff Victim, 90, Returns To Work
Kiet Do, Reporting.
BEN LOMOND (CBS 5) ―
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Ian Thiermann, 90, lost over $700,000 in an alleged Ponzi scheme run by investor Bernie Madoff.
CBS
Imagine working your whole life saving for retirement, then having your life savings disappear. It's reality for a Ben Lomond man, who at age 90 is forced back to work to make ends meet.
Retired businessman Ian Thiermann is back on the job working 30 hours a week as a grocery store greeter.
Like thousands of people across the country, Thiermann invested with Wall Street financier Bernie Madoff, who is accused of allegedly running a $50 billion Ponzi scheme. Thiemann said he has lost all of his $738,000.
With house payments and medical bills piling up, Theirmann said he had no choice but to go back to work for $10 an hour.
Theirmann said, "You meet a situation like this, what are you gonna do, fold up? Instead of crying, yelling or being mad about it, face it and move on."
When the owner of the Ben Lomond Market heard the news, they offered Thiermann the job. Because in a grocery store, energy, attitude and punctuality can matter more than age.
"This is not a, woe is me, kind of man," said Barbara Loffer of Ben Lomond Market. "This is a community coming together and helping each other out in times of need."
After his first day on the job, the bosses gave him the next day off, because aftera ll, he's going to be 91 in May. They gave him a chair, because they figured he couldn't handle standing for six hours a day.
Thiermann was born in 1919, when Woodrow Wilson was president. He has lived through the Great Depression and all the wars since World War II and he sees no point in being bitter.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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