Thiele’s In US Town’s Good Books
Longtime Bermuda resident Patrick Thiele, who recently stepped down as head of Partner Re, is in the good books of readers in a Minnesota city — his unsolicited gift to the Stillwater library will ensure it can reopen its doors on Sunday.
Mr. Thiele, who retired as president and CEO of the leading Bermuda reinsurer on December 31 sent a cheque for $13,500 to the Stillwater library after reading about its financial difficulties.
Mr. Thiele and his wife, Jane, had been commuting between Bermuda and Stillwater until his retirement. The couple bought a property formerly owned by Oscar winning actress Jessica Lange and her partner, playwright Sam Shepard, on the city’s North Hill in 2008.
“I like Stillwater,” Mr. Thiele told a Minnesota newspaper on Tuesday [Jan. 26]. “It’s a beautiful town, and we’d like to make a home here, so I’d like to find a way to integrate myself into the community without being aggressive or arrogant about it.”
Serving as CEO of PartnerRe for 10 years, Mr. Thiele was succeeded by Costas Miranthis. Before taking up the Bermuda appointment, Mr. Thiele was a former top executive of Minnesota’s St. Paul Cos., now Travellers. He worked there for 20 years, rising to the position of head of worldwide insurance operations.
Mr. Thiele also served as president of the Association of Bermuda Insurers & Reinsurers in 2009/10, succeeded by Arch Capital’s Dinos Iourdanou on January 1.
His gift to the Stillwater Public Library Foundation will enable the library to begin opening on Sundays again after a two-year hiatus because of financial constraints, said Lynne Bertalmio, library director.
“It’s absolutely wonderful when you get support from a member of the public with private dollars that you haven’t even solicited, because they think libraries are so important,” Ms Bertalmio said. “It’s just heartening to see how many people really love their library.”
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