Lottery winner doesn’t live like a millionaire
Published: January 2, 2006
When Pat Fossum describes her day, it doesn’t sound like the lifestyle of a millionaire.
“We get up in the morning, feed the animals, go to work, work until 5 or sometimes midnight and then go home to bed,” said Fossum, who won $1 million in a Powerball drawing in October.
The Lennox mother and business owner said the winnings haven’t really changed her and her family, and she doesn’t expect they will.
Fossum became the sixth-largest lottery winner in the state’s history after she bought a ticket at a Sunshine Food store and matched the five white balls but not the red Powerball. She had taken advantage of a new feature known as Power Play. The Power Play featured a multiplier of five, so rather than winning $200,000 she took home $1 million.
Mike Mueller of the South Dakota Lottery office said her good fortune also spurred a trend. Sales of the Power Play feature have increased 44 percent since she won.
Fossum, 53, said she always has watched her money closely and that won’t change even if she could splurge a little now.
“I’ve had to. I never had a whole lot of money. My dad worked hard for everything he had, my mom worked, and I’ve worked since I was 6 years old,” she said.
When her mom worked in a Canton restaurant, young Fossum would tag along and act as a waitress for customers who got a kick out of their young server.
Fossum opened Seam Designs, an embroidery shop, in Lennox in 1996 and said she never has considered giving up her business and taking it easy.
She expects to keep working until she’s of age to draw Social Security.
There are benefits to her windfall, however. She and her husband, Steve, have paid their bills and no longer have a mortgage. She hasn’t accumulated a lot of stuff for herself, her three daughters or her four grandchildren.
Fossum said the other residents of Lennox have been full of congratulations for her and don’t treat her any differently than they did before her win. “They’ve just been thrilled for us,” she said.
Although several months have passed, Fossum said the win still hasn’t sunk in.
“Sometimes I sit and think, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to be a millionaire?’ ”
Then she remembers.
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