Posted on 11/27/2004 4:07:31 AM PST by DirtyHarryY2K
A Sad but True Texas Lottery Winner Story
Originally Posted: Nov 24, 2004 Revised:
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Less than two years after Billie Bob Harrell Jr. took the $31 million lottery jackpot, he took his own life Harrell, a former Pentecostal preacher, was a Home Depot stocker when he hit the jackpot.
Billie Bob's (Mis) Fortune
BY STEVE MCVICKER
Houston Press
From the Week of Thursday, February 10, 2000
Many have the same dream: finding the six magical numbers that unlock the treasure known as the Texas Lottery. Then life would be good. Problems would vanish. There are even the collective fantasies of what to buy and with whom to share this new, instant wealth.
Billie Bob Harrell Jr. shared those common visions by common souls seeking the salvation of sudden fortune.
And in June 1997, he found it.
He sat in his easy chair one evening and looked at his Quick Pick and then at the Sunday newspaper. Harrell studied the sequence of numbers again and began to realize the wildest of notions. He and wife Barbara Jean held the only winning ticket to a Lotto Texas jackpot of $31 million.
Harrell, a deeply religious man, knew he had a godsend from heaven. After being laid off from a couple of jobs in the past few years, Billie Bob had been reduced to stocking the electrical-supply shelves of a Home Depot in northeast Harris County. He was having a damn hard time providing for himself and Barbara Jean, much less for their three teenage children.
Every Wednesday and Saturday those kids were on his mind when he'd scrape together a few spare dollars to purchase a couple or so lottery tickets. Sometimes he'd use the sequence of his children's birth dates to choose his numbers. Other times he'd let the state's computer do his choosing for him. That random selection finally paid off, transforming Harrell into a millionaire overnight on a warm evening in June.
The hard times were history when he arrived in Austin about a month later, with an entourage that included his family, his minister and his attorneys, to collect the first of 25 annual checks for $1.24 million.
Life had been tough, he said at the formal lottery ceremony, but he had persevered through the worst of it.
"I wasn't going to give up," said Harrell, then 47. "Everyone kept telling me it would get better. I didn't realize it would get this much better."
In fact, it was great. At least for a while. Harrell purchased a ranch. He bought a half-dozen homes for himself and other family members. He, his wife and all the kids got new automobiles. He made large contributions to his church. If members of the congregation needed help, Billie Bob was there with cash.
Then suddenly Harrell discovered that his life was unraveling almost as quickly as it had come together. He relished the role of being an easy touch. But everyone, it seemed -- family, friends, fellow worshipers and strangers -- was putting the touch on him. His spending and his lending spiraled out of control. In February those tensions splintered his already strained marriage.
And on May 22, 1999, 20 months after hitting lottery pay dirt, Harrell locked himself inside an upstairs bedroom of his fashionable Kingwood home and stood at the point of no return. Investigators say he stripped away his clothes, pressed a shotgun barrel against his chest and fired.
Billie Bob Harrell was gone forever. So was the fortune, and even the family that had rejoiced with him when the shower of riches had first rained upon them. A schism has widened between the children and grandparents, who cannot even agree on whether Billie Bob took his own life. And an intrafamily war looms over the remnants of the fortune, which may not even be enough to pay estate taxes.
Perhaps the only thing not in dispute about his life and death is the jarring impact of money: It may not have caused his problems, but it certainly didn't solve them.
Shortly before his death, Harrell confided to a financial adviser: "Winning the lottery is the worst thing that ever happened to me."
Exactly.
Unrestrained liberalism takes another victim.
You are a smart mouth aren't you? Too bad they don't give prizes for being the most unfeeling sarcastic freeper, you'd win hands down.
I guess you never knew a coke or gambling addict. Good.
The "emergencies" that always seem to show up usually reflect enough creativity that the person could make a good living at nearly anything, if they were not crippled by a habit.
I feel the same way. I may even get dramatical and through a wad of money at them on the way out of the door (always wanted to do that one).
That was exactly my thoughts...;-)
Sounds like his wife will have the good sense to tell these hangers on where the door is.
When you win the lottery, the first word you have to learn to say is NO.
If money were the key to happiness, the wealthy would be deliriously happy without a care in the world. It is often just the opposite.
For a truly believing Christian, money is transitory because life itself is transitory and there is no pocket in the burial shroud.
There is a moral to this story and it's not "if you win, tell everyone to go to hell, become a hermit and keep every penny to yourself."
My personal favorite is the guy who gave every penny of his winnings to charity. I think he "gets it."
It just goes to show you that wisdom is a rare thing.
I watched something similar happen to a family--one got rich and they all went crazy.
Easy money and tinhorn celebrity--it'll ruin you and kill you.
"Perhaps the only thing not in dispute about his life and death is the jarring impact of money: It may not have caused his problems, but it certainly didn't solve them."
I am going to be so bold to say something that will tick people off but I have to say it. This man was an idiot. Sure he may have been a Christian but I have doubts. Not all of Israel is Israel. This man had a chance to change a part of the world but he made unbiblical decisions. If he did committ suicide than good riddance. I am not going to work full time, go to college, feed my family, manage my home, spend quality time with my wife (who is scared of me going back to active duty) and try to contribute to others needs, and feel empathy for this man.
He found out that he was worthless to others before the money came around. There was something in him that knawed and knawed till he cracked.
The only difference is that the Mafia lets you keep ALL your winnings.
There was good advice at the end of the page. I think the first thing someone should do if they should win, is to keep their mouths shut until they talk to their financial advisor. Don't have one, hire one. Do not talk to family about it, and don't cash in that ticket until you're ducks are in a row. If you're smart, you can make your money grow.
I can just see what kind of hell family will put you through if they think you have money. Have it locked up for everyone's own good. If I should ever actually win, I've already envisioned the insanity that would follow.
Having said that, I'm going to try and remember to pick up a ticket this afternoon ;-)
yeah, that's why I only spend a dollar a week on it. (high odds are better than no odds)
I am guessing that the person who goes first always wins????
Funny!!!
Godly princliples related to wisdom and money work even for atheists.
The richest (for his day) and wisest man who ever lived, Solomon, wrote a tremendous amount on these subjects in Proverbs, essentially saying again and again that "A fool and his money are soon departed."
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