HomeMy WebLinkAboutSheelah Ryan-1994 Ryan keeps
giving even
after death
,
❑The $55 million lottery
winner left a well-funded
;' ; er «„:c foundation to continue
^ helping those less
v.PEr1F7JaLrnaEL RLE' •'• fortunate than she was.-
Sheelah Ryan said last year that
she didn't thank God she had 1 y Roger Roy
won the lottery; she thanked God
for her ability to help others. or THE SEMINLa STAFF
Sheelah Ryan,who won $55 mil-
lion in the Florida Lottery and used
it.to help everyone from underprivi-
teged children to shay cats, died of
mincer at her Winter Springs home
We Saturday at the age of 69.
Ryan's winnings in September
1988 made her the largest single
lottery winner in America and the
n}stant focus of lottery-fever day-
dreamers around the world.
A reluctant celebrity,Ryan avoid-
ed publicity,but she made good on
her pledge to help others through
R*gam the Ryan Foundation, a charitable
Sheelah was most proud of her 38 years of organization she established and
service to Bill W.The Mass of ChrisbM Bur-
ial for Sheets,M.Ryan.age 69,of Winter headed to aid those in need.
Springs,who peeeeb away Saturday.will be -"I thank God every day," Ryan
conducted Tuesday at 9:30 a.m.at St.MM- Raid last year,"that I have the ab6i-
fel Mary Catholic Church with Father
Richard Walsh as celebrant.Interment will ig to help others,not that I won."
p��m a�nitor%Memorial s will a�wodar Pamela Ohab,who serves on the
from 2-9 p.m with a wake service at 7:00 foundation's board of directors,
at the Altamonte chaps of the Baldwin said Sunday the organization"will
Fairchild Funeral Home.Ms.Ryan is sur-
vived nite
deBl continue?'three nephews.Dennis and Carol Y
Ryan.Long Island,New York;Kevin Ryan. "It's really her legacy,and that's
New Port Ritchie;Terry Ryan.Los Anles; µdrat she wanted," Ohab said.
two nieces,Maura Ryan,Virginal Terry
Ellen two sist�inn�, ",the left it very well funded."
•Jupiter;devoted Mends Shirley and Larry '+Ryan has received annual pay-
.Young and Pwneladwb;nine great nieces merits of $2,767,361 since 1988.
and nephews.Memoflal donations may be That sum will continue to go to •
made to Safe House a Seminole Foundation,a:on. l3tr estate every September until 9(/D c� a
l07 .SR.434, i Tee Span , a, vl
'3270,SR.434,N-FAI Springs,FUNERAL
Ste 20-year payout is completed.
HOME. 9ALDWMmonte n NtamoML Details of Ryan's financial ar-
Veina 994 L 32E.701 01407/89 Drive,Altemoma
. ,FL.327ot ap7fBaeat t t. bg epts and her illness were
being g kept private,Ohab said.But
friends reported that Ryan had
Ryan used money to `enrich the community'„
RYANfrom A-1 whether she had ever been married,or discuss her per-
RYAN
soul life.
been ill for several months. The mystique continues even after her death. A Rif
neral notice,purchased by the family and appearing in
Ryan had no children but is survived by several today's Orlando Sentinel,said Ryan"was most proud
nieces and nephews and two sisters-in-law, some of of her 38 years of service to Bill W."
Whom serve on the foundation's board of directors. Nephew Dennis Ryan declined to discuss Bill W.
The only relative who could be reached Sunday said "To people who know who Bill W.is,it's selfexplana-
the family would not comment. tory; he said.
In September 1988,Ryan was a real estate broker liv- In 1989, Ryan bought a $260,000 home on Bear,
ing modestly with her two cats, Shannon and Buy,at Creek Circle in Winter Springs—purchased through
Hacienda Village,a Winter Springs mobile home park. a trust to keep the location secret—and established
She bought four lottery tickets each week,using the her foundation.
same
four sets of six numbers.But in August that year, The foundation funds a shelter program for worn-:
changed her strategy and began picking different en and children and has provided
numbers each time. a grants for medical:
From the ant and food the assistance for the elderly.
page of the Aug.30 d change her life One g of the ood organizations Ryan contributed a to airs;
Ryan chose the numbers that would change her life the Neighborhood Affiliates Bringing Home Repairs-�
—3-5-19-20-27-35. in Seminole,a group that repairs homes for the
Ryan's numbers were drawn during the Labor Day Don Non, who founded the program, went to the;':
weekend.No one had won the state's lottery for sev- Ryan Foundation a few years ago to request a done
ell weeks,and the jackpot had grown to record size. tion to buy a used van to carry building materials;
When state officials announced that a single winning The foundation came through with the van — and
ticket had been purchased at a Longwood supermarket also with monthly donations for about three years,
meaning the huge jackpot wouldn't be y
split among the which Often the hadn't requested.
multiple ticket-holders—everyone wanted to know the Often the money came not from the foundatiow
new multimillionaire's identity. when she learned of someone who needed help or whit
But Sheelah Ryan was lying low. She had talked to had done a good turn,but from Ryan's own bands. h1
an attorney Mend and quietly made arrangements to go Ryan gave$10,000 to help pay for a teen-ager's kid+
Tallahassee as" to claim her prize. ney transplant. She donated $1,000 to an animal;
The day before she left, she stopped to see Nancy rights group at the University of Central Florida 'tZI
Damson, a neighbor of nine years, to ask Damuon to find homes for stray cats,and$2,000 to buy tlagpold'
feed her cats.Damson knew something big was up. at Oviedo High School. -.
She woe over here,and she was frantic,just beside She once gave $500 to a 16-year-old Tavares High
herself,"Damon said Sunday,recalling the incident."I - School student who had turned in an unendorsed
thought someone in her family had.died.But finally she $100,000 cashier's check he found, explaining, "That
said,'You won't believe.it,I think I won the lottery." kind of honesty deserves to be rewarded, especiallz
Before Ryan left for Tallahassee, she woe back to in this day and age."
pray with Amon' Seminole County Commissioner Larry Furlong got:
FR never forget,she prayed that she'd never be any- to know Ryan through their mutual interest in theii°
body but Sheelah Ryan, that she would never change. Irish heritage.
And she didn't,"Dames said. "The Sheelah rnae. d said she built a housing n where
saw was the same Sheelah Ryan you meat she h named Ki members after lived.
Id. town where
she won" Ryan who lived here before some of her family members had lived. .y
if "If God had meant for somebody to win that mores
f Ryan was the same,her life was suddenly very cif- ey, it must have been her. She really used it to eat
rich the community."
Outside her home in what had been a quiet mobile L Survivors include three nephews,Dennis Ryan, WL
home park with mostly retina, crowds of reporters, Long Island in New York; Kevin Ryan,New Port eel;
television crews and curiosity seekers gathered to get a chey; Terry Ryan, Los Angeles; and two niece
glimpse of the new multimillionaire. Callers from Marra Ryan of Virginia and Terry Bauer of West*
around the world were phoning in investment tips,loan Palm Beach.
requests and marriage proposals. Ryan male appear- The family will receive friends at 7 p.m. today aD
ances or all three television network morning news pro- Baldwin-Fairchild Funeral Home, Altamonte
' Springs. Services are scheduled for 9:30 am. TueC
But through it all, and in the years that followed, day at St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church, 528 Nom
Ryan revealed little of her private life: She was born in Park Ave.,Winter Park. .�
New York City, moved to Central Florida in 1975 and Sande Pedicini and Gary Taylor of the Sentinel
had no children. In interviews, she would not say staff contributed to this report.
gyo9e (c.
Ryan a winner without money
Most people only dream of what Ms. Ryan's benevolence is even more
they would do if suddenly they remarkable in light of her modest, pre-
were wealthy. lottery lifestyle in a mobile-home park.
For Sheelah Ryan of Winter Springs, Few would have faulted Ms. Ryan if she
who died Saturday night at age 69, that had decided to indulge herself in
dream became reality extravagance.
y n 1988 when she
won $55 million in the Florida Lottery, That, though, was not Ms. Ryan's way.
becoming the largest sole winner of a lot- Those who knew her said she wanted the
tery jackpot in the United States. money not to change her. By all accounts,
It would be incomplete, though, to it did not.
remember Ms.Ryan only for her winnings. At a time when many adults seem driv-
What she did with much of her jackpot Ryan aset eat fine exatmpple, using her
—establishing a foundation that dispersed resources to improve her community.
money to do good works — was far more
significant. She will be missed.
Letters to the editor-
Goodbye, Ms. Ryan
THIS IS a tribute to a great lady I
was privileged to know and love,
Sheelah Ryan.
Sheelah, my dear, you shall be
missed. We never heard an uttered
word of evil from your mouth. Your
graciousness was clearly felt by all
who were around you.Your kindness,
so genuine and rare. Your apprecia-
tion of all things great and small, es-
pecially music,the arts, dance,people
in need, and don't forget precious Si-
amese cats and all other helpless little
creatures.
You always looked through the
bad—to the good in each of us.You
were hurt only by the greed in some.
You're a great and grand lady. You
won a lottery; that never changed
you for a second. You were always
the same. You are now with friends;
you are with God, for you are most
worthy. We love you dearly. Fare-
well. 91 O ' 2 7
Kathy Dickelmap
LONGWOOD
Through the years I've known
many people who were suddenly
thrust into wealth; few handled
z it well. She did it with grace. Pam Ohab, a close friend for
af ra " How? She never changed. Ask l5 years and her accountant,
t F ' aap. those who were. closest to her. says Ryan's was "tough love."
ag;,..''=44 j She sincerely cared about others She preferred to help people•
>h'' r, k 33 Ns '? •2. and sought no credit for her. help themselves. That's what
u' 00 11..-,:a'%....a I 'r-749`i good deeds. She was truly a she believed in; she didn't
.ca11s b, ° b 1/4f1 humble person, before and after change.
`: `�`t .+� • .'' •,k4-v F her fame. Ryan's lottery winnings will
Oh, sure. She traded the Mer- continue to flow in for the re-
Don Boyett
cury for a Lincoln Town Car, minder of the 20-year payout,
bought a nice home, helped her and, says Ohab, the foundation
OUR COUNTY - family.But that was it. will continue sharing its funds
Jim and Nancy Damron lived with causes in Seminole County,
across the street from her for just as though she were alive.
Sheelah Ryan gave nine years and were among the Much of the money, she says,
few people she was close to. It will go to scholarships, some-
more than money was with Nancy Damron that thing in which Ryan had a grow-
Ryan prayed that remarkable ing interest. Rather than to indi-
Asteady 'course: Sheelah prayer before leaving to claim viduals,though,it will be direct-
Ryan was a most generous her prize — that she would nev- ed to reliable scholarship funds,
person. The foundation she er be anyone but Sheelah Ryan, she says.
set up will eventually spread that she would never change. The last time I talked with
much of her$55 million in Florida Later,Ryan would tell that she Ryan she apologized for being so
Lotto winnings to the benefit of thanked God every day, not for tired. She talked briefly of her
people in Seminole County. That her winning the lottery, but for heart surgery a few years back
in itself is remarkable. " her ability to help others. And and of her battle with cancer.
But at her death over the the truth is,she meant it. She was living her life a day at a
weekend, this remarkable wom- Often, when I would write time, she said, and her greatest
an left an even greater legacy for about some needy cause, she joy was that she could help oth-
the taking — a lesson in how to would call to ask for more de- ers. She was content with being
live. tails. Later, I might learn (by herself.
I met her soon after she became chance)a check went that way,if The Scriptures tell us it is more
the U.S.-record lottery winner. not from the foundation, then difficult for a camel to pass
She had dropped by the office to from her personal account. through the eye of a needle than
thank a reporter and a photogra- Linda Kuhn is a victim's advo- for a rich person to enter heaven's
pher.who had been the exceptions ' cate for the State Attorney's Of- gates.Difficult,not impossible.
among a badgering press. She rice and heads efforts to build a Surely, Sheelah Ryan did the
came because, well, that's the spouse abuse shelter in Semi- difficult with the grace of a person
kind of person she was. nole. After six years battling who was always herself.
As she and I talked for most of public indifference, it's about to
an hour,I couldn't help thinking become a reality and will be
how calm and serene she was. named for Ryan. Says Kuhn, it
Here she had just won $55 mil- is to the credit of this remark-
lion and she sat there as though able woman. She wouldn't give
her biggest concern was what to up.
cook for supper. Often, as with the shelter, her
She talked of her hopes to gifts came with a string. She
helpnthers, and I thought, "Uh- would put up a sum as a chal-
huh." Of course, she would re- lenge to others also to give_And
place that old Mercury that sometimes there would be condi-
balked each time she turned the lions.
key..And she would have to.
move somewhere that crowds
couldn't find easily.
91/ o 9,17