Gerald, Elizabeth, and Dean Fritsma of Grande Prairie, Alta., won $17,368,141.30 on the June 17 LOTTO 6/49 draw. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ho-Western Canada Lottery Corporation
Republished July 31, 2015 - 3:10 PM
Original Publication Date July 31, 2015 - 1:25 PM
GRANDE PRAIRIE, Alta. - An Alberta couple and their adult son say karma may have played a part in their $17.3 million lottery win.
Gerald, Elizabeth, and Dean Fritsma of Grande Prairie won the millions on the June 17 draw of Lotto 6-49.
Elizabeth says they've helped so many family and friends over the years that the win must be some sort of payback.
They bought their winning ticket at Mountview Grocery in Grande Prairie.
Gerald had a vision of the winning numbers, said Elizabeth.
"The numbers that my husband picked were random flashes in his mind's eye that he quickly jotted down and that's the ones he picked," she said.
The Fritmas don’t have any big plans for their winnings yet, but plan on investing most of the money.
"We can do a few things we planned on doing, but nothing crazy or drastic life changes," Elizabeth said.
Gerald says they live a quiet life and will continue to do so.
“Elizabeth came to the shop to tell me the news,” said Gerald. “I saw her walking up and just hoped it wasn’t bad news. It was some amazing news!”
Both Elizabeth and Gerald are retired and she says they will "stay grounded" and take a year or so to decide what to do with the windfall.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2015