Connecticut Resident Donald Peters Leaves Wife $10 Million Lottery Ticket

Winning Lottery Ticket Purchased Hours Before the Man Passed Away

Everyone prays for the day they are showered in riches. In this story, I think Alanis Morissette said it best with her song Ironic when she sang. "He won the lottery, and died the next day. Isn't it Ironic?"

Connecticut resident Donald Peters, 79, and his wife, Charlotte, played the lottery often. For 20 years the couple played the lottery, most times purchasing ten advance tickets together.

On November 1, 2008, according to local media, Donald would go to a local 7-Eleven and purchase his tickets. Later the same day he would fall victim to a heart attack while doing yard work. He would never know that the ticket dated for December 2, 2008 was worth millions.

In her grief, Charlotte said she nearly threw the tickets out. The tickets were set aside, and pretty much ignored for nearly two months. On January 2, 2009, while at the Connecticut Lottery Headquarters, Charlotte said she was in the grocery store and had her ticket checked. She said the clerk told her she was a winner, but couldn't tell her how much she won.

The ticket that would provide her, the couple's three children, and two grandchildren with financial security for the rest of their lives was a $10 million winner from the drawing on December 2, 2008.

Charlotte, 78, has sixty days to decide if she would prefer the $6 million pre-tax lump sum or the annuity of $477,300 paid yearly over the next 21 years.

She said she really does not know what she will do with the money, stating she has always wanted a Corvette. She said she may go to a casino in her home state, but cited that she as to go home to sit and think.

Link in the song 'Ironic', the Peters children said their father would appreciate the irony that he won the lottery after his passing.

In a time of economic turmoil, and financial crisis, this family found themselves in a sad time of their own. When a family member passes it is always a deeply saddening time, but when a person passes so close to the holidays, it tends to leave the family even more grief stricken.