Amid family tragedies, man wins $1M lottery jackpot

Apr 29, 2010, 9:03 am (26 comments)

Iowa Lottery

Reeling from the loss of his wife to cancer last month and the earlier death of his son in a construction accident, an Iowa man found a spot of brightness this week by cashing in a $1 million lottery ticket.

Fifty-eight-year-old Richard Koenigsfeld of Marble Rock, Iowa, bought a $20 lottery ticket April 18 to commemorate the birthday of Dian, his wife of 32 years, who died March 26. That's when his luck changed.

"I scratched it off and I couldn't believe what I was seeing," Koenigsfeld said on CBS' "Early Show" today. "I thought I had a winner." He said it may have been his wife looking out for him.

Koenigsfeld will walk away with $455,000 after taxes, and told the Omaha World-Herald that he plans to take some time off from work to process everything that has happened to him in recent months.

Koenigsfeld's son Gabe was killed in a construction accident in November, leaving behind a wife who later gave birth to a baby girl.

Thanks for LckyLary for the tip.

CBS

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sully16's avatarsully16

Good for him, he has an angel looking over his shoulder. So sorry for his loss even a million dollars can't take away the heartache and pain he must be feeling every day.

TnTicketlosers's avatarTnTicketlosers

Maybe we all need to plant a flower in her memory...maybe we would win a million.

drhymes74

wow.... is all  can say.

I felt my heart sink when he broke down mentioning the death of his son.

 

The money can't bring back his wife and son but, I hope that he can find peace, joy and comfort.

God Bless you Mr. Koenigsfeld!!!

dr65's avatardr65

Bittersweet is right. I'm not sure how I'd feel about that.

jeffrey's avatarjeffrey

How did taxes take so much?What? God bless you. You will never completely get over your lost love but you will learn to live with it and find joy in life again.

Todd's avatarTodd

Quote: Originally posted by jeffrey on Apr 29, 2010

How did taxes take so much?What? God bless you. You will never completely get over your lost love but you will learn to live with it and find joy in life again.

Because he's now considered "the wealthy".  The government believes that rich people like him should not be "selfish", and should spread their wealth around a little.

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

Quote: Originally posted by Todd on Apr 29, 2010

Because he's now considered "the wealthy".  The government believes that rich people like him should not be "selfish", and should spread their wealth around a little.

Exactly.

And the real outrage is that we keep electing the people that keep doing this to us over and over and over.

So the answer to the question asking why they confiscate so much of our money is easy: Because we allow them to.

You don't plant corn and get cotton.

konane's avatarkonane

Sincerest heartfelt condolences to him for his immense loss.  

At the same time congratulations to him for his win, hope he has many more!

coolmoney

Quote: Originally posted by sully16 on Apr 29, 2010

Good for him, he has an angel looking over his shoulder. So sorry for his loss even a million dollars can't take away the heartache and pain he must be feeling every day.

I Agree!I hope he will take care of his granddaughter and his son's wife and also help others, God and angels were definitely looking out for him,but he still will be in pain over the loss of his son and wife.  God bless him.

dingo's avatardingo

God blessed him with a chain of luck. First, he won $300 from casino; then, he used that money to bought scratch tickets and won $1M. It's a bitter-sweet story - lost his wife and son then won lottery.

tiggs95's avatartiggs95

Quote: Originally posted by coolmoney on Apr 29, 2010

I Agree!I hope he will take care of his granddaughter and his son's wife and also help others, God and angels were definitely looking out for him,but he still will be in pain over the loss of his son and wife.  God bless him.

You can tell by the way he talks his daughter-in-law and grandson will be taken care of..Good for him at such a bad time in his life..It said 1mil then it said 655,000.00???..

Starr920

Wow, bittersweet is the only word that truly describes his situation.  I'm so happy that he won and now has a nice nestegg that will allow hime to take time off work and enjoy his new grandchild.  Lep

LottoLin

That does seem a little strange. The Feds take 25% on any winnings whether it's Power Ball or Mega Millions or a Scratch off. So he won $1 million that left him $750,000.00 after Uncle Sam took his share.  Iowa's State Tax is 5% so that would have left him with $715,500.00 give or take.  Thats quite a big chunk of change different than what they said he got after taxes.  But I'm glad to see the money go to this man, it isn't going to bring his wife and son back, but his wife found a way to tell him she's OK and she is going to leave him OK too.

savagegoose's avatarsavagegoose

wow, half a mill just doesnt seem to cut it when u lose so much . :(i dont think $100 mill would cut it

what a bitter win. i wonder if I could drink my beer with so many tears in it.

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