Eganville – An Eganville couple who both recently received a late birthday gift in the form of a $1 million win in the Lotto Max Maxmillions draw have retired from their respective careers to enjoy their good fortune.
Glen and Evelyn Hein won a Maxmillions prize worth $1 million in the May 19 Lotto Max draw.
Mr. Hein, 58, retired last week from his 14-year career as a sheet metal worker at Canadian Nuclear Laboratories in Chalk River and Mrs. Hein, 57, retired from her role as an educational assistant at Eganville District Public School. She notified the board of her decision to retire the week she went to collect her winnings.
The couple were returning from a holiday in Niagara Falls when they decided to purchase the Lotto Max ticket. They admitted they were not regular lottery players but did try their luck when the jackpots grew.
“We went there on Glenn’s birthday on the 14th (May 14) and then on the 19th, it was my birthday,” Mrs. Hein explained. “We always go for both of our birthdays.”
They stopped at Foodland in Eganville on the way home and Mrs. Hein decided to purchase a ticket. In her interview with the lottery commission, she explained she had let someone go ahead of her in line, feeling maybe that had led to her win.
She said when she first checked her ticket, she thought she had won $1,000.
“I was going to retire on that,” she remarked.
Then, she realized there were more zeroes and she had won $1 million.
“Glenn was retiring on that too,” she said with a laugh.
When she shared the exciting news with her husband, he first thought she was playing a prank and their son, Nicholas, thought something was wrong.
“Glenn didn’t believe me the whole day,” she told the lottery commission. “When we validated the ticket at the store, he was overjoyed.”
The Heins have three children: Samantha, Amanda and Nicholas and they have used some of their winnings to pay off their student loans.
“And we’ve invested the rest,” Mr. Hein said.
The Heins generally take a vacation to the Falls twice a year and when asked if the winning might allow them to be a little more extravagant in the future, Mrs. Hein remarked, “We might stay an extra day.”
The Heins said the win has been incredibly “freeing” for them.
