January 30, 2012
Winning is “overwhelming” for $1 million Muncie Powerball winner
INDIANAPOLIS – The holder of the million-dollar Powerball ticket purchased at Arjan Petro at 2001 W. McGalliard Road in Muncie has claimed her prize. Janice Kleeman presented the winning ticket at Hoosier Lottery Headquarters late Friday afternoon.
Kleeman is originally from Muncie, but has resided in Indianapolis since marrying her husband Scott about two years ago. She has worked as a physical therapy assistant in Muncie for 14 years.
Kleeman was talking with co-workers Friday morning when the discussion turned to the recent Muncie Star-Press article about an unclaimed million-dollar winning-ticket recently sold by Arjan Petro in Muncie. Knowing she often buys tickets there, Kleeman quickly hopped online, checked her ticket and was shocked to discover she was holding the winning ticket.
Kleeman somehow managed to keep her winning ticket a secret from her co-workers all day, telling only her husband the good news.
“I was with a client when she called to tell me,” said Scott Kleeman. “Her voice was oddly strained and her sentences were broken. She couldn’t spit it out and I initially thought something was horribly wrong.”
But nothing was wrong. Far from it! In her own words, Kleeman was and continues to be “overwhelmed” by the magnitude of it all. “It’s hard to believe,” said Janice Kleeman. “It’s hard to put into words.”
One word that popped up pretty quickly for the Kleemans is “vacation.”
“We only took one day off all of last year,” said Scott Kleeman, who works in sales. “We didn’t think much of it at the time, but looking back now I’m not sure how we did it. I think we’ll try to take a vacation this year.”
As for the rest of their winnings, the Kleemans say they are primarily concerned with taking it slow and coming up with a smart, long-term plan for taking advantage of their windfall.
“We’ll invest it and make it last,” said Janice Kleeman.
“We can pay off the house and do a lot of things, but we want to be smart about it,” added Scott Kleeman.
The numbers that will make it possible for the Kleemans to do all that, the winning numbers in Jan. 23 Powerball drawing, were: 4-19-28-29-47 PB: 5. The couple’s ticket was one of three nationwide to match the first five numbers, but not the Powerball number, to win a $1 million prize in that drawing. Their win comes only days after enhancements to the game (on Jan. 15) increased the “match 5” prize from $200,000 to $1 million.
Janice Kleeman says she picked up her interest in the Lottery from her father and has played Powerball and Hoosier Lotto faithfully for years.
“My dad loved the Lottery,” said Janice Kleeman. “If he was alive today, he would be thrilled!”
Wednesday’s Powerball jackpot is an estimated $170 million.
Hoosier Lottery officials remind players to check their numbers carefully and to sign the back of their tickets immediately.
The Hoosier Lottery is committed to providing innovative and entertaining lottery games for the benefit of the citizens of Indiana. In fiscal year 2011, the Hoosier Lottery generated $188 million in net income which was used to significantly reduce the motor vehicle excise tax for all Hoosier drivers and also supported the pension funds for retired Indiana teachers, police and firefighters. Player prizes for the fiscal year totaled $495 million and $56 million was earned by Indiana retailers on the sale of Hoosier Lottery products.
Since its inception in 1989, the Hoosier Lottery has generated $4 billion in net income for the citizens of Indiana, nearly $1 billion in commissions and bonuses for participating Indiana retailers, and has paid out $8.5 billion in player prizes.
The Hoosier Lottery reminds players to always play responsibly.
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For more information, please contact Al Larsen at alarsen@hoosierlottery.com or 317-264-4805.
Photo: Janice Kleeman claims her winnings at Hoosier Lottery Headquarters.