When Eleanor Steinhauer-Halfe saw the zeros pop up on the lottery ticket scanner at a local gas station saying she was a winner, she initially thought she had won $1,000.
She happily took the six-dollar Lotto Max ticket to the clerk, who after making sure Steinhauer-Halfe signed the ticket, told her she thought the winning ticket was really worth $100,000. After recounting the zeros, Steinhauer-Halfe realized she was actually a millionaire.
“I couldn’t even say anything,” says a still-excited Steinhauer-Halfe later in the week, as she recounts the events that took place on her way to work on Oct. 22. She says she always gets into town early, so she went to fill up with gas before heading to work at the Tribal Chiefs Family Services office.
As she was getting fuel, Steinhauer-Halfe, 66, remembered she had purchased lottery tickets on Friday, so she decided to check them. In a press release from the Western Canada Lottery Corporation, Steinhauer-Halfe admitted that she sometimes purchases lottery tickets and forgets to check them.
After realizing she had won a million dollars, she called her boss to share the good news, but she too reacted in disbelief. When Steinhauer-Halfe finally made it to work on Monday, coworkers asked why she was even there, considering her new found wealth.
“I’ve always worked, all my life,” says Steinhauer-Halfe, adding, “I love working.”
She says she enjoys being around people and enjoys the people she works with. Prior to working in St. Paul she worked in Fort McMurray for 30 years and will be taking a contract position in Manitoba in 2013.
But, she also has plans to buy a house in the St. Paul area and share her winnings with family and friends. Steinhauer-Halfe says she paid off her truck with some of her winnings last week, and was planning on giving the truck to her sister, then buying a brand new vehicle for herself.
“I want to take care of my family,” says Steinhauer-Halfe in the release, adding, “I want my own home. I’ve always wanted a place of my own. And I want to be close to my mom.”
In the end, nothing has changed on a personal level for Steinhauer-Halfe, but she is enjoying being able to share what she has won.
“That’s what life’s all about.”
