Giggles all night after couple win the lottery
Source: Agencies |
April 20, 2012, Friday
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Print Edition
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A RETIRED couple from southern Illinois claimed their one-third share of a record US$656 million Mega Millions lottery jackpot on Wednesday, saying they would invest most of it and possibly buy a new car.
Merle Butler, 65, and Patricia Butler, 62, who took early retirement nearly five years ago from investment firm Edwards Jones, are the only winners of the March 30 jackpot to have publicly identified themselves.
Merle said he reviewed the ticket after the numbers were broadcast and told his wife: "We won."
They could not sleep that night. Patricia said she spent most of the night and morning nervously giggling.
In the morning Merle took the ticket to put in his strongbox at the bank. The town was already crawling with reporters who had heard that the winner was in Red Bud.
A bank employee jokingly asked him if he was locking up the winning ticket. "That's right, we've got the winner," Butler told the bank employee, who didn't believe him.
Illinois requires winners' identities to be revealed. The holders of the two other winning tickets, in Kansas and Maryland, chose to remain anonymous.
The Butlers' share of the prize would amount to US$218.6 million if paid in 26 annual installments.
However, they chose to take a lump sum of US$157.9 million, which will be reduced to US$110.5 million after tax.
At a news conference in Red Bud, about 58 kilometers south of St Louis, Merle told reporters that he usually only played the lottery when the jackpot hits about US$150 million.
"I was retired but now it looks like I have a new full-time job," said Merle, referring to managing the money. The couple waited three weeks to come forward after the draw in order to consult financial and legal advisors, he said.
The couple plan no major changes in their lives and said they would use some of the money to help their children and grandchildren.
Married for 41 years, they have spent all their lives in Red Bud, a farming and manufacturing community of 3,700 people named after the trees that tower over the town.
"They are quiet people. I don't see them much, but they do go camping a lot," said Mark Lettman, who lives across the street from the couple on the prosperous west side of town.
Vic Mohr, 87, who owns the local weekly newspaper, the North County News, described the Butlers as "quiet, just good people" and church-goers who kept to themselves. Another resident said the couple attended an evangelical church.
Merle Butler, 65, and Patricia Butler, 62, who took early retirement nearly five years ago from investment firm Edwards Jones, are the only winners of the March 30 jackpot to have publicly identified themselves.
Merle said he reviewed the ticket after the numbers were broadcast and told his wife: "We won."
They could not sleep that night. Patricia said she spent most of the night and morning nervously giggling.
In the morning Merle took the ticket to put in his strongbox at the bank. The town was already crawling with reporters who had heard that the winner was in Red Bud.
A bank employee jokingly asked him if he was locking up the winning ticket. "That's right, we've got the winner," Butler told the bank employee, who didn't believe him.
Illinois requires winners' identities to be revealed. The holders of the two other winning tickets, in Kansas and Maryland, chose to remain anonymous.
The Butlers' share of the prize would amount to US$218.6 million if paid in 26 annual installments.
However, they chose to take a lump sum of US$157.9 million, which will be reduced to US$110.5 million after tax.
At a news conference in Red Bud, about 58 kilometers south of St Louis, Merle told reporters that he usually only played the lottery when the jackpot hits about US$150 million.
"I was retired but now it looks like I have a new full-time job," said Merle, referring to managing the money. The couple waited three weeks to come forward after the draw in order to consult financial and legal advisors, he said.
The couple plan no major changes in their lives and said they would use some of the money to help their children and grandchildren.
Married for 41 years, they have spent all their lives in Red Bud, a farming and manufacturing community of 3,700 people named after the trees that tower over the town.
"They are quiet people. I don't see them much, but they do go camping a lot," said Mark Lettman, who lives across the street from the couple on the prosperous west side of town.
Vic Mohr, 87, who owns the local weekly newspaper, the North County News, described the Butlers as "quiet, just good people" and church-goers who kept to themselves. Another resident said the couple attended an evangelical church.
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