Shown is a photo of the winning Lotto ticket bought by Tim Morris, a Pantagraph employee. Morris, of Bloomington, is the sole winner of the $3.25 million Lotto jackpot on Sept. 21, 2011.
BLOOMINGTON — Tim Morris, information technology manager for The Pantagraph, is the sole winner of the $3.25 million Sept. 21 Lotto jackpot.
A formal announcement took place at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at Commerce Shell, 1801 S. Veterans Parkway, Bloomington, where Morris purchased the ticket between 6:30 and 7 p.m. the day of the drawing.
The winning numbers for Morris, 51, of Bloomington are a combination of his parents' birthdates -- 2, 10, 12, 25, 32 and 33 -- which he has played since 1978. He also plays another set including the birthdates of his four children.
“They were excited,” said Morris of his parents, Don and Lois Morris of Chenoa. “Most everybody is generally happy and excited for us.”
The list of those who knew about the win has been limited to family and a couple of close friends, Morris said. Of course, the first person he told after seeing the numbers in The Pantagraph the morning of Sept. 22 was his wife of 21 years, Arlene, who works at State Farm Insurance Cos.
His wife was in the kitchen and he went in, pulled out a chair and said, “Honey, come here. You’ve got to sit down and look at this.”
Morris put his winning Lottery ticket and The Pantagraph in front of his wife.
“She said, ‘No, it can’t be right; something must be wrong,’” Morris said.
The couple plans to take a lump-sum payment of $2,375,000. After about 35 percent federal tax and 5 percent state tax, they will get about $1.4 million, Morris said.
They plan to pay off the mortgage on their Bloomington home and pay for college for their children, Sami, 20, twins Jackie and Jake, 19, and Bart, 16.
“We’re trying to keep everything as normal as possible,” said Morris.
The couple plans to continue working and Morris said his kids also will continue to work.
Once Morris discovered his numbers had won, he talked to his accountant and a financial planner. He called the Illinois Lottery office the day after the win but only asked questions and did not reveal his identity. He formally filled out the paperwork last week.
Morris also has continued to buy Lottery tickets, including another one at Commerce Shell from the same employee, Lindsey Daugherty, who sold him the first ticket.
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