Winners Of The Lottery

July 13, 2007
Sara Furuno

Jon and Jodi Smythe won $8.75 million in the Super Lotto Jackpot on Thursday. The day before, Jon Smythe, 37, of Santee, had purchased the winning ticket from the 7-Eleven off Highway 52.

Prior to buying the golden ticket, Jon had experienced his 44th job lay-off as a maintenance engineer at Qualcomm.

“Education on the street. There’s a lot of opportunities out there if you look for it,” said Jon.
But now that he and his wife are millionaires, he won’t need another job in awhile. The Symthes plan to invest some money into features such as coin-operated laundry mats and the anti-oxidant pumped Mangosteen. They are also thinking about giving money to the American Red Cross. Previously, the non-profit organization assisted them when a fire, caused by a discarded cigarette, burned their truck.

Being avid television watchers, the couple wishes for a TV in every room, along with a complete subscription to TV Guide. Jodi Smythe, 28, said she wanted some tall pet condos to house her cats in and some jewelry.

“I want some diamonds. I ain’t never had any diamonds,” said Jodi.

When asked about whether or not they would move out of their trailer park the couple expressed that there is no better town than Santee. They did hope to upgrade to a doublewide trailer down the street, though.

Their winning numbers, 3-4-33-43-44-45, were not picked randomly. They were chosen by a system, said Jon. The numbers were picked out of his life and from his experiences. He was the age of 3 when his mother left him. When he was 4, his father went to prison. 33 had been the number of beers he had, and 43 was the number of beers he believed he would drink in celebration if he were to win the lottery. 44 represents the number of jobs he had in his lifetime, and 45 was a number that he thought to be spooky and he chose it because of his gut feeling.

On that fateful trip he took to the 7-Eleven after he had lost his job, Jon Smythe bought a lottery ticket, a Pepsi, and a Hostess Cherry Cake. The very next day, he and his wife had won the jackpot.

“Fortuitous events happen after buying Hostess Cherry Pie,” said Jon.

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