"Bye-bye, boss!" One prize delivers retirement, travel, and a first-time home

By Kate Northrop

MONT-JOLI, Canada — Eight family members spanning three generations won a $2.5 million (US$ 1.8 million) share of the Lotto 6/49 Classic Jackpot with numbers that have lasted them "for a very long time."

A group claimed one sort of multi-generational wealth when eight individuals from the same family showed up with a winning ticket for half the Lotto 6/49 jackpot.

The Bas-Saint-Laurent lottery family is led by their "lottery captain" Julien Ross, who knows their special numbers by heart and was the one to realize they had won them the jackpot.

"Look, Monique!" he told his sister, Monique Ross, with his hands raised when she arrived at his house. "We won $2.5 million!"

The ticket he purchased at the Tabagie Rivard convenience store on Avenue Doucet in Mont-Joli held the same numbers the family had been using "for a very long time," the Québec Lottery announced, and it had matched all six regular white ball numbers 1, 7, 21, 33, 41, and 47 to win the game's $5 million (US$3.65 million) jackpot in the Jan. 31 drawing. They ended up splitting it with another winner whose ticket also matched all six numbers.

After Monique found out, Julien dialed up the other winners one-by-one, and on Feb. 11, the family met at the Salon de jeux de Québec to claim their prize.

Each of the winners described using their share of the prize in their own way, with two of them taking aim at their work lives. While Michel Beaulieu plans to reduce his working hours, Julien said "bye-bye, boss" sooner than expected and left his job.

Meanwhile, Lina Belanger, Beaulieu's spouse, wants to organize a family trip to Scotland to "follow in the footsteps of the Ross family ancestors" and perhaps add a new chapter to their family history.

Lastly, Pierre-Luc Bélanger Ross, Julien's son, will use his portion of the winnings to purchase his first house with his spouse, Stéphanie Bouchard-Gagné.

The other winners are Sylvie Bélanger and Gilberte Larue.

For selling the winning ticket, the retailer receives a $25,000 bonus commission, or 1% of the prize, from the Lottery.

(Click to display full-size in gallery)Eight individuals from the same family showed up with a winning ticket for half the Lotto 6/49 jackpot.