Earl Brown, 66, bought the golden ticket in last week’s “Win for Life Game.”
Lottery officials visited Rome on Monday to announce Brown the winner, holding a ceremony at the Big H Food Store on 12th Street where he bought the ticket.
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“You always dream,” said Brown, when asked if he ever imagined winning the lottery.
Brown, who retired from Bekaert Corp. four years ago, said he intends to use the winnings to pay medical and pharmaceutical bills.
The official announcement was made with the presentation of a ceremonial, oversized check to Brown and the storeowner.
Brown attended the ceremony with his wife Jo Ann Brown and daughter Valerie Brown Boyd.
Many neighborhood residents showed up to congratulate Brown, holding a barbecue in the store’s parking lot.
“He deserved to win; he played so much,” said his daughter. “It couldn’t happen to a better person.”
Brown’s daughter said Brown had intended to surprise her with the news of his winning the lottery.
She said she learned only when she called him in Dalton, the Georgia Lottery district office, as he was submitting his winning ticket.
Big H Food Store will receive $5,000 for selling the winning ticket.
“I got that much luck,” said Suresh Patel, who owns the store together with Jystna Patel.
Ron Shaver, district manager for Georgia Lottery’s Dalton district, presented the ceremonial checks.
“How fun is it giving out money,” said Shaver.
The game offers the winner $1,000 every week for life. The prize is paid quarterly, so Brown will get $13,000 — before taxes — every three months, lottery officials said. His after-tax take will be $8,970 per quarter, said Tandi Reddick, a Georgia lottery spokeswoman.
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