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Amid Family Tragedies, Man Wins $1M Lottery

Apr 28, 2010 – 11:55 AM
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Mara Gay

Mara Gay Contributor

(April 28) -- Reeling from the loss of his wife to cancer last month and the earlier death of his son in a construction accident, an Iowa man found a spot of brightness this week by cashing in a $1 million lottery ticket.

Fifty-eight-year-old Richard Koenigsfeld of Marble Rock, Iowa, bought a $20 lottery ticket April 18 to commemorate the birthday of Dian, his wife of 32 years, who died March 26. That's when his luck changed.

"I scratched it off and I couldn't believe what I was seeing," Koenigsfeld said on CBS' "Early Show" today. "I thought I had a winner." He said it may have been his wife looking out for him.

Koenigsfeld chose the $650,000 cash prize and will walk away with $455,000 after taxes. He told the Omaha World-Herald that he plans to take some time off from work to process everything that has happened to him in recent months.

Koenigsfeld's son Gabe was killed in a construction accident in November, leaving behind a wife who later gave birth to a baby girl.

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