STOCKTON, Calif. -- Billionaire developer and San Diego Chargers owner Alex Spanos has announced in a letter that he suffers from dementia.
The 85-year-old Stockton resident was in the owner's box for the Chargers' division-clinching win over the Denver Broncos on Sunday, but family members wanted to tell the public that his infrequent appearances lately have been because of his declining health.
Spanos wrote in a letter published in the San Diego Union Tribune that his memory is fading, but that physically he feels strong.
Spanos was one of the largest contributors to the 2004 campaign of George W. Bush, who then appointed him to the Kennedy Center Board. Spanos bought an interest in the Chargers in 1980 and acquired the team outright in 1984.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
