Timothy H. McMurtrie smiles after collecting a $1.15 million Lotto 47 jackpot.
A St. Clair County man was expecting the worst, but got the best news of his life when his wife told him he’d won a $1.15 million Lotto 47 jackpot from the Michigan Lottery.
Timothy H. McMurtrie, of Yale, matched the Lotto 47 number drawn March 4 – 07-27-28-38-45-46 – to win the big prize. He bought his winning ticket at the Meijer store, located at 1555 Demille Road in Lapeer.
“My wife and I stopped for groceries and while she was checking out, I headed over to the service desk to buy my normal Lotto 47 tickets,” said McMurtrie. “I realized that I didn’t have my play slips with me, so I just asked the clerk for two Easy Picks.”
As he always does, the 62-year-old player tucked the tickets away in his wallet, planning to check them later.
“A few weeks went by and I had a pretty good stack of tickets, so I asked my wife to check them because she was heading into town,” said McMurtrie. “I told her I’d split the winnings 70-30 with her.
“When she got back to the house, she had a look on her face that startled me. She was very serious and told me to sit down so I was thinking something really bad had happened. The next thing I know, she’s telling me I’d won the Lottery!”
McMurtrie had to see the good news for himself, so he grabbed his ticket and visited the Lottery’s website, MichiganLottery.com, to confirm that he’d won the big prize.
McMurtrie’s jackpot-winning Lotto 47 ticket.
McMurtrie visited Lottery headquarters Friday to claim the jackpot. He chose to receive his prize as a one-time lump sum payment of about $730,000 rather than an annuity. With his winnings, he plans to help his close family members, take a vacation, and then save the remainder.
“It feels pretty damn good to win! It’s still hard to believe, but as soon as I see my bank account balance I’ll know it’s real,” McMurtrie said.
Each Lotto 47 play is only $1. Players select six numbers from one to 47 for a chance to win a jackpot starting at $1 million and that grows until someone wins it. For an additional $1 per game, players may add EZMatch to their ticket for a chance to win up to $500 instantly. Lotto 47 drawings take place on Wednesday and Saturday at 7:29 p.m. Tickets may be purchased until 7:08 p.m. on the day of the drawing.
