Local Dr. wins 189mm Powerball......

[JupiterSunsation]

Good to think he has charity on his mind, but reading the article it seems there are a lot of "haters" in that area.......



Orlando doctor wins $189 million Powerball prize, plans to give to charity


By Gary Taylor, Andrew Carter and Walter Pacheco

Sentinel Staff Writers

Thursday, October 15, 2009

TALLAHASSEE — An Orlando physician who carried a $189 million winning Powerball ticket around in his wallet for days before having a friend check the numbers claimed the prize in Tallahassee early this afternoon.

Dr. William A. Steele elected to walk away with a lump-sum payment of just more than $101 million.

The winnings make Steele the largest-single lottery winner in Florida history.

Steele arrived at a Lottery office with his wife of three years, Frances Summers-Steele, and a friend he identified only a "Maynard." He described his wife as an "inspirational writer and speaker" and said she is working on a book. "We call her Frankie," he said.

"We're still in shock," said Steele, 56.

Much of the money, he said, would go to charity. He said he plans to continue his practice "if the public will let me."

Steele said he purchased his ticket at a Chevron station at Sand Lake and Turkey Lake roads "that I go to frequently" in time for the record Oct. 3 drawing.

The Chevron store, owned by Hussein Ali, received an $80,000 bonus for selling the ticket.

The store is on the way to a gym where he goes to work out. He said he did not know immediately that he had won, although speculation in the days after the drawing was that someone in the Dr. Phillips area held a winning ticket.

Steele said he put the ticket in his wallet and "forgot about it." He also tore out a slipping from the Sunday newspaper about the drawing and put it in his wallet as well, but never checked the numbers.

Steele said he was preparing to go to a charity event at Universal Studios Saturday night when he called Maynard, whom he described as a childhood friend, and asked him to go to the Florida Lottery Website and check the numbers. He said he read the numbers to his friend, who didn't believe him at first.

Then he went to Maynard's house to see it on the computer himself.

He called the decision to call Maynard to check the numbers "an oh my gosh moment." It was about 4 a.m. Sunday when he woke his wife and asked her if she loved him. Then he told her about the ticket.

"Go back to sleep," she told him.

In the days after realizing they had won, they put the ticket in a safety deposit box as they prepared to accept the money.

Steele said he plans to set up a foundation next year and will have volunteers from his attorney's office and the community screen applications for funding.

He also said he plans to support several charities, but declined to name them. "They know who they are."

Steele's Web site described him as "a respected dermatologist and Mohs Micrographic surgeon. " It said he received his medical degree from the University of Iowa and is Board-Certified having received Dermatology and MOHS micrographic surgery training in the residency program at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

Customers had mixed reactions at the Chevron station where Steele bought the winning ticket.

"Wow!" said Mario Dela Fuentes, a worker at Universal Studios, which is down the street from the Chevron off Sand Lake Road west of Interstate 4. "I would not be charitable. I would give some money to my family but I would not set up a charity."

Another customer wasn't impressed by Steele's announcement about setting up a charity.

"Well, I'm just a regular person without the money of a dermatologist and I would never have given any of it away," said customer Jessica Ventiglia. "I'll still keep playing at this gas station until I strike my million."

Customer Bernice Thompson liked Steele's generosity.

"Life is beautiful, and this person's charitable soul proves good can come from the Lottery," she said.

The Florida Lottery joined Powerball in January, and this is the first jackpot winner sold in the state.

[Sea-Dated]

Good for him. He is a better person than I am. I would definitely give some to charity but that would be after I fill my personal marina.

[JupiterSunsation]

Good for him. He is a better person than I am. I would definitely give some to charity but that would be after I fill my personal marina.

He is going to "net" about 65mm cash after taxes. If he kept 20 million and gave away 45mm he would still live like a king and help others along the way. However announcing his name and offering charity to others will soon overwhelm him with crackpot ideas/pleas/begging.

I bet Stecz has already scribbled a letter together........

Deer Sirr,

I am a ratard, pleese send me money for new underoos and I like cheetos tooo! My mom told me Santa is bringin me a shiney new 10 speed bike but I definitllly needs to wheere a helmit cauz I fall alot........

[Perlmudder]

Deer Sirr,

I am a ratard, pleese send me money for new underoos and I like cheetos tooo! My mom told me Santa is bringin me a shiney new 10 speed bike but I definitllly needs to wheere a helmit cauz I fall alot........