GRAND RAPIDS — Having dedicated his entire 42-year career to the family business, Rusty Eichorn figured he could retire this year at age 60.
Instead, he was forced in recent years to liquidate more than $500,000 in retirement savings and sell off at least $200,000 worth of prized personal possessions — an airport hangar, snowmobiles and a gun collection — to meet payroll and keep the doors open Glen’s Army Navy Store, a 76-year fixture in Grand Rapids.
Eichorn, well-known in the community for his business and political roles, now gets around in a $2,500 car and expects to work at least another five years before achieving a more modest retirement as a result of a yearslong embezzlement scheme perpetrated by his own sister.
“I still can’t comprehend how my own sister could look me in the eye saying how sorry she felt for me as I was handing over checks to the store for $50, $100 or even $150,000 to keep the store…
