Theft of life savings all part of God's 'stimulus' plan
When he lost his first business in the early 1970s, then his marriage and even the 1996 presidential election, colorful Ed Gombos of Addison always took it in stride. Allowing that he's not really a "religious man," Gombos says he found comfort in the biblical story of Job, who never lost his faith in the face of personal catastrophes.
"This latest thing is like Job 2," Gombos says Monday as he sits in his small office and location of his most recent setback.
An unusual character, Gombos came to my attention in 1988, after he saw an image he took for Jesus Christ in the wood grain of a door. Inspired by the image, Gombos set out to "improve America and the world." A world-class gymnast during his days at the University of Illinois and one-time owner of a successful uniform company that outfitted Olympic teams and movie stars, Gombos immediately began writing essays and announced his candidacy for the U.S. presidency in 1996. His essays, more than 30,000 pages worth, still fill the file cabinets in his office. His quirky presidential run, which got limited coverage from this column and an episode of "A Current Affair," ended 13 years ago when he finished some 47 million votes behind Bill Clinton.
A T-shirt maker-turned-writer who runs for president while lugging around a door in which he sees Jesus, Gombos knew he was in for some mocking. But he also put forth some interesting ideas about the problems of greed and the value of helping others.
"Mother Teresa said, 'The good you do will be forgotten tomorrow, but do good anyway,'" Gombos says. "And that's what I try to do."
He prints a lot of T-shirts for schools, police departments, veterans' groups and such, and sells them for pretty much what it costs him to make them. He's taken a vow of poverty and always talks about helping others.
That philosophy helped lead to his latest problem.
"On Oct. 4, Charlton Heston's birthday, I left my building to go and watch the Steelers at my sister-in-law's in Glendale Heights," Gombos remembers. When he returned to his T-shirt business in an Addison office complex, he noticed that the metal cookie tin where he keeps his money had been tampered with. A thief had struck.
"He stole $10,000 cash, my life savings, money that I was going to use for my daughters to bury me," says the 72-year-old father of two.
Addison police arrested a 48-year-old man who worked near Gombos. Gombos had befriended the guy and tried to help him out. Gombos told police the man owed him $302 from previous loans when the theft occurred.
In a handwritten statement obtained by the Addison police, the man admitted stealing money.
"I'm so sorry -" he wrote. "I will pay Ed back as much as I can. I'm so sorry, Ed."
Police did find $3,000 at the home of the suspect's mother, and returned it to Gombos.
A new sign in Gombos' office reads, "I did not think I would get it back, but I did." It refers not to money, but to his newfound effort to build a new nest egg. If Job could persevere, Gombos figures he can do it, too.
"I'm going to rebuild," Gombos says excitedly. "God may have said, 'Ed is going soft, so I'll have to stimulate him.' Maybe you've read the story of Job in the Bible. Take care. Happy Thanksgiving. Merry Christmas and all the rest. Bye bye."