In this Powerball winner story, an Illinois man discovers an unchecked Powerball ticket and wins in a big way.
Sometimes, you get motivated to clean out your desk drawers. And if you’re like most people, when sorting through piles of papers and miscellaneous items, you find some gem or long-lost thing. Maybe it’s an old photo you rediscover or a favorite pen you had once misplaced. But in the case of one Illinois man, his desk drawer cleaning netting something much more valuable. See the story of this man whose motivation to clean out his desk led him to find a Powerball ticket, which led to a sizable pile of cash.
Ron Yarcus, a retired chaplain from Glen Ellyn, Illinois, told the media, “I don’t usually buy lottery tickets.” And since he wasn’t an avid player, it’s probably what led him to forget about having purchased a Powerball ticket three months prior. But on that August day in 2012, while getting gas at his local BP gas station, he thought he’d try his luck.
Yarcus went on about his day, which turned into routine weeks. It wasn’t until November, roughly three months after having purchased his Powerball ticket, that he thought he would spend some quality time cleaning out his desk drawers. There, among the clutter, he spotted a pile of Powerball tickets and remembered.
Yarcus told reporters that his desk had become a “cluttered mess.” And having put it off long enough, forced himself to sift through things and get organized. He would be handsomely rewarded, too. Of that pile of Powerball tickets, he discovered a couple of $2 winners and a $1 million winner.
He visited the Powerball website to confirm his numbers. And clicking through to the payoff page, he verified that he did, in fact, have a $1 million prize coming to him. In disbelief, he kept checking and asking his wife to double-check, too. Needless to say, the couple was elated.
Yarcus, who used to own a print shop and serve as a hospice chaplain, had retired. But he shared with the media that he hadn’t really accumulated any kind of retirement package. This Powerball windfall would be used to fund his retirement, along with sharing some of the wealth with a few local charities. Yarcus also said he planned to share his winnings with his three children and four grandchildren.
Yarcus also said he intended to continue serving as a deacon in his church and working part-time as a hospice chaplain. He might still be buying Powerball tickets when he occasionally stops for gas. But now, he might be a little more organized about keeping track of those tickets.
Ron Yarcus’ Powerball winning story serves as a reminder for Powerball players to stay on top of checking those numbers and keeping their tickets. Yarcus got lucky that he found his $1 million winning ticket within the time period allotted for winners to come forward. And he’s not the first to “accidentally” find a winning ticket that had once been misplaced.
In a similar story, Joanne and Joseph Zagmi accidentally threw away their winning ticket. They had purchased their ticket during a grocery run and, after unpacking groceries, threw away the bag with the ticket still in it. The next day, they remembered and luckily retrieved it, in time to realize they’d won $1 million.
Powerball winner stories are great lessons-learned and reminders to all those who continue to play. Ron Yarcus got lucky twice, once by purchasing a winning ticket and twice because he managed to find that winning ticket in time to claim his prize.