Even after winning big, many Texans lead same lives
Published: November 7, 2005
Winning the lottery has turned a few hundred Texans into millionaires overnight. But many of them don’t choose to quit their jobs and some still shop for bargains or choose to fly coach instead of first class.
“It has changed our lives for the good, but it hasn’t changed us all that much,” said John Melton, a retired welder from the Wichita Falls area who won $8.5 million in April 2002. “We still have the same friends and we don’t dress like we’re worth a million dollars.”
After buying a ticket that randomly picked the six correct numbers, Melton took the lump sum payment which, after taxes, reduced his winnings to about $3.5 million.
The 62-year-old winner first bought his wife a topaz ring from South America — a place he has visited regularly. They eventually bought 30 acres and built a new home. His wife enjoys taking a few girlfriends to New York every year and treats them to the day spa now and then. Sometimes he goes too.
But Melton still does all the maintenance around his house and uses the same neighborhood banker he always has.
Judge Jane Roden of the Dallas County Criminal Court won nearly $2 million in 1997 when she was among a group of 23 at the Dallas County Public Defenders office that won $45 million by picking the right six numbers. After taxes, Roden and her husband collect $58,000 annually for 25 years.
“Immediately it didn’t change anything. We bought a new fence, paid off some bills, that sort of thing,” said Roden. “We aren’t extravagant and we will never be.”
One of Roden’s friends quipped that Roden wouldn’t have to shop at Target anymore. Roden said her winnings would just make her shop at Target more often.
Lottery jackpots do change lives, most often for the better. Children get sent to college, homes get built and cars get paid for on the spot. A dream can become a reality, like when one lottery winner retired to South Padre Island to fish everyday, or when a former Catholic nun went to law school and became a lawyer.
Earl Nesbitt, a Dallas lawyer who represents three groups of multi-million dollar winners, has seen financial worries melt away, only to be replaced with a whole new set of concerns. Like how to handle investments and the constant pleas from long-lost relatives, so-called friends and smooth-talking financial advisers.
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