Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 28, 1993 TAG: 9308280133
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BONNIE V. WINSTON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
But Gerald and Rita Sue Ranes of Newport News, the Virginia Lottery's newest millionaires, ran out of state lottery headquarters to feed a parking meter Friday as they filled out papers to claim their $24.5 million jackpot.
When they ran out of change, lottery officials invited the couple to move their 1988 Ford Taurus into the department's free parking lot.
Meeting the media in blue jeans and casual shirts, the Raneses insisted that holding the largest jackpot ever won by a single, individual ticket holder in Virginia will not change them.
They said they won't quit their jobs.
Gerald, 54, surveys ships for safety and structural integrity for ABS Americas; Rita Sue, 47, is a cook for Lil's Restaurant.
They said they won't buy a new house but may hire someone to complete the remodeling work they've done themselves on their home, which was built in 1929.
They said they won't buy a new car - "We just finished making the last payment on [the Taurus] a couple of months ago" - or take a luxury vacation. They might take a three- or four-week car trip across the country, though.
"We like to work," Rita Sue Ranes said.
"We enjoy our jobs and the people we work with," Gerald Ranes said. "If we quit and sat around the house, we'd probably go nuts!"
Smiling nervously but broadly, the couple, married only 2 1/2 years, held hands as they explained what they will do - help their blended family of five children and eight grandchildren, bank their winnings, and find a good investment counselor.
And, they said, they will continue to spend the $40 per week they've always alloted to play the lottery.
"Some people gamble. Some people bet the races. We play the lottery . . . and it paid off," Gerald Ranes said.
Two weeks ago, the couple correctly picked four of six numbers to win a small prize in Lotto.
"We went out to dinner," Gerald Ranes said.
Two years ago, they won about $800 by correctly picking five of six numbers.
But neither said they could believe it when they discovered they'd hit Wednesday's big one. The winning numbers - 1-8-10-28-39-42 - were a combination of birth dates and the day they met.
Rita Sue Ranes said she "laughed and cried" when she read the numbers in Thursday's newspaper. She called her husband at work and told him to come home immediately.
They took the winning ticket to the lottery's regional office in Hampton, then returned to Rita Sue's job, where she placed an oversized, cardboard check made out by lottery officials for $24.5 million on the restaurant counter.
"I said to my boss, `Can you cash this for me? How about a couple of beers?' " she said.
"He was afraid she was going to quit," Gerald Ranes said. "Good cooks are hard to find."
Since Wednesday, several friends have called them asking to be adopted, Ranes said. "But they've just been joking. Everybody's been really happy for us.
"The best part about this is the financial security," he continued. "We weren't rich before, but we were able to pay our bills.
"Now, we don't have to worry."
by CNB