One of the winners of the massive $636 million Mega Millions jackpot hailed from Stone Mountain, Ga., a mom who simply used family birthdays and her lucky No. 7 to select numbers for the one ticket she purchased.
Now she’s going down in history as one of two winners of the second-largest Mega Millions jackpot in U.S. history, CNN reported.
Lottery officials said the woman is Ira Curry. She lives east of Atlanta and has opted for the lump sum — about $120 million, after taxes, The New York Post said.
“She has not decided how she’ll spend those winnings,” said Georgia Lottery chief executive Debbie Alford, in The New York Post. “She said she was just in a state of disbelief.”
Ms. Curry didn’t attend the news conference that identified her as the winner.
Her story is that she was driving to work when the radio announcer gave out the winning numbers. She called her daughter to double check the numbers.
“Between joyful tears and laughter on the daughter’s part, she relayed to her mother that her mother had won the lottery,” Ms. Alford said, in The New York Post.
Ms. Alford declined to say where Ms. Curry worked or give out her age. Her husband and family members appeared at lottery headquarters to claim her prize for her, The New York Post said.
The other winner is still not identified, but the winning ticket was purchased in a San Jose, Calif., gift shop.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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