Beaker
Member
Lottery winner's third ex ponders her future
Couple were married at jackpot time
Woman consulting with lawyers
DALE BRAZAO
STAFF REPORTER
WOODSTOCK — The woman who stands to gain the most from her marriage to the $30-million-dollar man spent the day in London, Ont., yesterday shopping for a lawyer.
Nynna Louise Ionson had nothing to say when she got home last night, but daughter Crystal, 17, said her mother had spent the day shopping and talking to lawyers about where she stands.
Ionson is the third ex-wife of Raymond Sobeski, the farmer and computer technician who made world headlines by waiting almost a year to collect his $30 million Super 7 lottery win.
Ionson has told reporters that Sobeski tried to serve her with divorce papers last year, but she refused to sign them and remained married to him.
Documents obtained by the Star shows Sobeski's uncontested divorce petition became final on January this year. But Ionson was legally married to Sobeski at the time he hit the jackpot last April.
"I don't want to say anything that will hurt her position," Crystal said by telephone.
Ionson was driven to London by son Cory, 19, the only one of her four children who still lives with her in a modest semi-detached home owned by the Woodstock housing authority.
Ionson, who has held a variety of jobs, including truck driver, is not currently working and does not have a television or a telephone at home, neighbours said.
"She is very upset right now," Cory told reporters as he pulled into the driveway. She had talked to a lawyer in London, but "she doesn't want to say anything right now."
The young man said his mother has been under siege by the national media since it became known she was Sobeski's third wife. The whole world, it seems, wants to know what she is going to get from the $30 million man.
The couple were married in London on Dec. 10, 1998, although Ionson says they never lived under the same roof. Divorce records obtained by the Star show Sobeski filed for a divorce last Dec. 3. It was granted Jan. 8, three months before he showed up at the lottery corporation.
Sobeski is thought to be out of the country since he picked up the cheque. He said at the time he delayed collecting the prize for a year because he "didn't want to do anything rash."
In interviews with the national media, Ionson has given titillating tidbits of her eight-year relationship with Sobeski.
Ionson said she spent most weekends at his Princeton home or settled for romantic interludes at area motels, as was the case last Thursday, after Sobeski went to Toronto to pick up the $30 million.
He drove back to Woodstock and spent the night with Ionson at the Quality Inn without mentioning the win. At one point, Sobeski apparently sent her out for Chinese food and told her to keep the change, a gesture Ionson found out of character for her skinflint husband.
The owner of JP Variety in Woodstock said Sobeski was a regular there on weekends but rarely purchased anything.
"He'd spend 20 minutes reading the magazines, then he'd put them back on the shelf without buying any," said the owner, who did not want his name used.
The Sobeski story is the hot topic of conversation all over town.
Every coffee shop and gas bar is awash with rumours and speculation about what, if anything, Sobeski owes his ex-wife.
"If I was him I'd be in the Cayman Islands stashing the money," one old-timer said, sipping his brew at a Tim Hortons.
Couple were married at jackpot time
Woman consulting with lawyers
DALE BRAZAO
STAFF REPORTER
WOODSTOCK — The woman who stands to gain the most from her marriage to the $30-million-dollar man spent the day in London, Ont., yesterday shopping for a lawyer.
Nynna Louise Ionson had nothing to say when she got home last night, but daughter Crystal, 17, said her mother had spent the day shopping and talking to lawyers about where she stands.
Ionson is the third ex-wife of Raymond Sobeski, the farmer and computer technician who made world headlines by waiting almost a year to collect his $30 million Super 7 lottery win.
Ionson has told reporters that Sobeski tried to serve her with divorce papers last year, but she refused to sign them and remained married to him.
Documents obtained by the Star shows Sobeski's uncontested divorce petition became final on January this year. But Ionson was legally married to Sobeski at the time he hit the jackpot last April.
"I don't want to say anything that will hurt her position," Crystal said by telephone.
Ionson was driven to London by son Cory, 19, the only one of her four children who still lives with her in a modest semi-detached home owned by the Woodstock housing authority.
Ionson, who has held a variety of jobs, including truck driver, is not currently working and does not have a television or a telephone at home, neighbours said.
"She is very upset right now," Cory told reporters as he pulled into the driveway. She had talked to a lawyer in London, but "she doesn't want to say anything right now."
The young man said his mother has been under siege by the national media since it became known she was Sobeski's third wife. The whole world, it seems, wants to know what she is going to get from the $30 million man.
The couple were married in London on Dec. 10, 1998, although Ionson says they never lived under the same roof. Divorce records obtained by the Star show Sobeski filed for a divorce last Dec. 3. It was granted Jan. 8, three months before he showed up at the lottery corporation.
Sobeski is thought to be out of the country since he picked up the cheque. He said at the time he delayed collecting the prize for a year because he "didn't want to do anything rash."
In interviews with the national media, Ionson has given titillating tidbits of her eight-year relationship with Sobeski.
Ionson said she spent most weekends at his Princeton home or settled for romantic interludes at area motels, as was the case last Thursday, after Sobeski went to Toronto to pick up the $30 million.
He drove back to Woodstock and spent the night with Ionson at the Quality Inn without mentioning the win. At one point, Sobeski apparently sent her out for Chinese food and told her to keep the change, a gesture Ionson found out of character for her skinflint husband.
The owner of JP Variety in Woodstock said Sobeski was a regular there on weekends but rarely purchased anything.
"He'd spend 20 minutes reading the magazines, then he'd put them back on the shelf without buying any," said the owner, who did not want his name used.
The Sobeski story is the hot topic of conversation all over town.
Every coffee shop and gas bar is awash with rumours and speculation about what, if anything, Sobeski owes his ex-wife.
"If I was him I'd be in the Cayman Islands stashing the money," one old-timer said, sipping his brew at a Tim Hortons.
I doubt he'll be back.
~~~ 