South Philly man wins $100,000 on ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’

One South Philly man is $100,000 richer after a successful appearance on ABC's Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. Well, almost.

"I don't have it in my hands yet," Albert Stumm says of his winnings, which come from an appearance taped in June. "The show had to air first — that's how they get you to keep quiet."

Stumm, publisher of Passyunk Post, reached the $100,000 checkpoint with a question revolving around astronaut Buzz Aldrin. However, he walked away from the show after being presented with another query about the first toys given away in McDonald's Happy Meals in 1979 (the answer: A "McDoodler" stencil).

Prior to that, though, he brought his husband, Keith Fleming, onto the Millionaire stage as a lifeline, and introduced him as such for a particularly touching moment.

"That's something that just a few years ago, I never would have thought I'd get the chance to say at all, let alone on national television," Stumm says. "Just one more reason that it was an incredible experience."

Now also an editor at the Associated Press, Stumm unfortunately couldn't enjoy watching the broadcast of his winning Millionaire episodes before anyone else in Philly, being as they aired at 1 a.m. smack-dab in the middle of Pope Francis' visit to Philadelphia — what he jokingly calls "the biggest story in the world."

Luckily, though, his colleagues in the AP's Massachusetts offices were able keep him up to date, with the show airing at noon in that region.

"There were all these New England reporters messaging me before I even got to see it," Stumm says. "But with the pope here, I was working on the biggest story in the world, so it was a lot in one weekend."

Now, with both the episodes having aired and Pope Francis' visit having passed, Stumm plans to focus on the future, which now includes what exactly he's going to do with a cool $100,000.

Chief among his plans: improvements at the Passyunk Post, as well as some home renovation. Besides that, though, Stumm just wants to make sure he doesn't "do anything stupid." Or, rather, not too stupid, anyway.

"I'm definitely going to go on a crazy vacation," he says. "But I haven't decided where yet."