WEEDSPORT, NY - Retired electrician Richard Loveless of Port Byron, Cayuga County is no stranger to Lotto luck. The 64-year-old winner of the $42,500,000 Lotto jackpot drawn on October 17 has been rubbing elbows with Lotto millionaires for most of his life.
The Baldwinsville native grew up less than a mile from two other Lotto winners, starting a trend that continued through the years and eventually caught up to himself.
Loveless’ childhood friend Susan Garner of Baldwinsville split a $2,800,000 Lotto jackpot prize with her brother in 1995. His other friend Sharon Zuke Jackson of Phoenix, NY was one of three siblings who split a $15,000,000 Lotto jackpot in 1997. Additionally, Loveless’ fellow Port Byron resident, Richard Smith, was the sole winner of a $6,000,000 Lotto jackpot drawn in 2001.
Loveless’ uncanny connection with some of Central New York’s richest Lottery winners extends to his former workplace, New Process Gear in East Syracuse, where Freddie Hands and Ronald Edwards of Syracuse and Douglas Tedford of Canastota pooled their money in 2010 and split a $26,000,000 Mega Millions top prize.
Loveless, who refers to the Lotto game as “the best deal out there” said his winning numbers – 01, 09, 11, 16, 19, 22 – had sentimental value for him.
“My numbers represent my mom and dad’s birthdays,” he said adding, “I honestly believe divine intervention had something to do with my win.”
Loveless said he realized his days as a Lotto bridesmaid were over the morning after the drawing. “I let the dog out and turned the computer on like usual,” said the father of three. “I saw the jackpot was back down to $2,000,000 so I ran out to my truck to get my ticket from the visor. I looked and looked and sure enough, I had all the numbers on Line G. I woke up my wife and it’s been like an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ experience ever since.”
Loveless plans to use his new fortune to pay off his children’s college loans and “help out all of my loved ones.” As for immediate plans, Loveless said, “I’d like to finish building the garage I started years ago. It keeps me out of trouble.”
Loveless purchased his jackpot-winning Lotto ticket at the Pit Stop on North St. in Weedsport.
The New York Lottery contributed $14,888,232.29 in Lottery Aid To Education to school districts throughout Cayuga County during fiscal year 2014-2015.
About the New York Lottery
The NY Lottery continues to be North America’s largest and most profitable Lottery, contributing $3.17 billion in fiscal year 2013-2014 to help support education in New York State. The Lottery’s contribution represents 15 percent of total state education aid to local school districts. NY Lottery revenue is distributed to local school districts by the same statutory formula used to distribute other state aid to education. It takes into account both a school district’s size and its income level; larger, lower-income school districts receive proportionately larger shares of Lottery school funding.
