109-Year-Old GM Retiree Still Collecting Benefits

TRAVERSE CITY – He retired in 1958 from General Motors Corp. after 32 years service, he’s now 109 – and he’s still collecting GM pension and health-insurance benefits.

That amazing story was revealed at Tuesday’s 2004 Management Briefing Seminars by Jerry Elson, GM vice president and general manager-vehicle operations, to underscore why GM’s health costs are running $1,400 per vehicle.

Elson didn’t reveal the retiree’s name but observed that he has been retired for 48 years. “I was in high school then (in 1958), and I’m old,” Elson laughs.