Man who won $208 million lottery dies at 43

The man who won a $208 million Mega Millions lottery jackpot with his wife in April 2005 has died, police and a family spokesman said.

Ralph Stebbins died Saturday at his home in Arcadia Township, Michigan, near Lapeer, Sheriff's Sgt. Andy Engster told the Times Herald of Port Huron. Family spokesman Robert Kolt said he suffered a heart attack. He was 43.

Ralph and his wife, Mary, elected to take a lump-sum payment of $124.7 million, less taxes. They could have chosen to spread $208 million in payments over 26 years.

The couple used part of their winnings to buy a recreational vehicle and said they planned to buy a cow, pay off bills and build a garage to house a 1963 Corvette.

Kolt said he was not aware that Mr. Stebbins had a history of heart problems or that he was feeling ill.

"He seemed healthy and he was a very active guy," Kolt told the Detroit Free Press for a Wednesday story. "I think everybody was surprised."

Mr. Stebbins had previously worked for a well-digging company in Port Huron, where the couple formerly lived, while Mary Stebbins was a $7-per-hour retail sales clerk at a general merchandise store.

Both quit their jobs after winning the jackpot and planned to help several other family members retire.

The Stebbinses purchased their winning ticket at a supermarket in Port Huron and had been buying five easy pick Mega Millions tickets a week on a regular basis.

"his life became hell after he won, with people constantly after him for money."

I can just imagine that. Every hard luck story pressed upon him. Every sad-eyed kid looking for a handout. I suspect that successful lottery winners have to pretty well give up on acquaintances and limit access by relatives. They probably live in obscurity and direct all pleas to a decision-maker other than themselves. At least that's what I would do. I don't play the lottery so it is a moot issue for me but what a headache.

A few years ago a case was decided in California over lottery winnings between a divorced couple. Seems the wife won it through her work lottery pool and because the marriage was breaking apart and the winnings were somewhat paltry (along the lines of $75K a year payout), she wanted to keep it all. She consulted the lottery people who advised her to defer taking the payment until she filed for divorce. The payments were also sent to her mother's home. The divorce went through and a few years later the ex-mister received an inquiry from a company which specializes in lottery loans. This was his first hint that something was amiss. He took her to court and the court determined that she had fraudulently concealed the asset in her Asset & Debt Declaration, especially since she won it while married so it was community property. As penalty for the concealment, the court awarded the ex all the future payments, which was probably 75% of the entire payout. Ouch! Don't take divorce advice from lottery people.

Hey, at least he made it to the store and back when he bought the ticket...

Durango Bill's Applied Mathematics http://www.durangobill.com/MegaMillionsOdds.html

Government statistics (http://hazmat.dot.gov/riskmgmt/riskcompare.htm) show there are about 1.7 automobile caused fatalities for every 100,000,000 vehicle-miles. If you drive one mile to the store to buy your Mega Millions ticket and then return home, you have driven two miles. Thus the probability that you will join this statistical group is 2 x 1.7 / 100,000,000 = 0.000000034. This can also be stated as "One in 29,411,765-". Thus, if you drive to the store to buy your Mega Million ticket, your chance of being killed (or killing someone else) is nearly 6 times greater than the chance that you will win the Mega Millions Jackpot.

I just had a 33 year old, strong, and healthy nephew die of a heart attack.

My condolences. One of my co-workers died last year at age 39 of a heart attack although he had let himself go quite a bit. He was already graying so I thought he was older.

Nonetheless, if I'm the medical examiner for this case, I'm going through this autopsy with a fine-toothed comb.

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