$1 million winner: I rummaged through the garbage, and there it was
Published: October 14, 2005
Cleaning off the kitchen table almost turned into a million-dollar mistake for a Lennox woman.
Pat Fossum was sorting through a pile of junk mail and mistakenly tossed her Powerball ticket Saturday.
“I rummaged through the garbage, and there it was,” she said. “My daughter said, ‘That will probably be the winning ticket.’ ”
It was. Fossum claimed her prize Thursday and became South Dakota’s newest millionaire.
Fossum, 53, also became the first person in the state to multiply her winnings by paying an additional dollar for the Power Play, a new feature that multiplies the prize by five.
When she checked the winning numbers at 2:30 a.m. Sunday, she first thought she had won $100,000. She matched all five numbers on the ticket, but not the Powerball.
She did some more checking and then thought her winnings were $200,000. She called her daughters, and one explained to her that she had actually won $1 million. The jackpot is the sixth-largest lottery prize won in South Dakota.
“I didn’t sleep a wink,” Fossum said. She woke her husband, Steve, to tell him. He stayed in bed until he was told the winnings might be $1 million.
“I didn’t believe her at first,” he said.
Fossum, who owns Seam Designs, an embroidery shop, said the whole experience has been a bit overwhelming. As she accepted her check for $750,000, the amount she received after taxes, she said she isn’t sure how she’ll spend the money.
“I never thought I would have a million dollars,” she said. “It’s hard to believe.”
Fossum said she won’t stop working. She plans to pay some debts. She and her husband also would like to travel and watch the next space shuttle launch with astronaut cousin Mike Fossum aboard.
Fossum, who has three daughters and four grandchildren, said she usually buys a Powerball ticket at the grocery store. She purchased the ticket at Sunshine Foods on West 10th Street in Sioux Falls. The store will receive $20,000 for selling the winning ticket in the multistate lottery.
Fossum’s daughter Dodi, who was with her mother at the store, lent her $2 and suggested she try the Power Play.
Dodi and her family attended the news conference where her mother accepted the winnings, but Fossum cleared up any confusion about who the winner is.
“She gave me the $2, but when I got home, I paid her back.”
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