After the Big Win: Lottery-winning couple's White Sox love story
Rating:
Alex Snelius remains true to team he and his late wife loved
If you're a faithful viewer of White Sox television broadcasts, you've heard the name Alex Snelius, and most of you have probably wondered who he is.
Snelius is synonomous with White Sox home runs. Every time they go yard, he donates $100 dollars in memory of his wife, Ursula, who was a huge Sox fan.
"From the time I met my wife, Sox, always Sox, she loved it so much," Snelius said. "The first time I seen her I fell in love with her."
The Lithuanian immigrants were married for 47 years. They hit it big winning a $64 million lottery jackpot in 2000 and decided to give back.
Those home runs add up — the couple has donated more than $144,000.
"I always said I would rather donate home runs than take a trip around the world because I get more pleasure out of this," Snelius said.
"My mom passed away, she was the one that started it when they won the lottery," said the couple's daughter Cindy Sanocki. "She's like we have to do something, I am very proud of them."
"Alex is so funny, when I talk to him on the phone he says 'we got three home runs last night,' 'but Alex that's $300'... [he said] 'I don't care, I don't care,'" said White Sox Senior Director of Community Relations Christine O'Reilly.
Now one of Snelius' biggest disappointments is that Ursula passed away right before the Sox won the World Series in 2005, but he made sure she was memorialized right on the Sox World Series monument.
"Everybody says she was in the outfield helping them win the World Series," he said. "We've been doing it since 2001. I will continue until the day I pass away."
It is a true White Sox love story. Now it's up to the Sox hitters to keep it going.
Ursula and Alex Snelius won the lottery in 2000 and have been giving back to the community ever since. Ursula Snelius has since passed away, but Alex continues to make donations in her memory.