Retired City of Chicago Employee Claims $1M Illinois Lottery Prize

Caption: Retired City of Chicago employee Edward Casper, 62, shows off his winning $1M Illinois Lottery ticket.

The luck of the Irish was smiling down on Chicago resident Edward Casper, who is one of the top winners in this year’s St. Patrick’s Day Millionaire Raffle drawing on March 18.

Casper, 62, a retired City of Chicago employee, won $1 million and presented his winning ticket at the Illinois Lottery Prize Center in Chicago.

“I still can’t believe I won a million dollars,” a happy Casper said.

The day after the drawing, his son checked the winning raffle numbers on the Illinois Lottery website.

“When my son told me we won the lottery, I thought maybe we had won $500 or $5,000,” Casper said. “I never imagined I would win such a huge prize.”

The retired City of Chicago employee took time to seek professional financial advice before claiming his prize and plans to invest wisely. He also plans to pay off his mortgage and buy cars for his son and daughter, Illinois Lottery said in a news release.

St. Patrick’s Day Millionaire Raffle tickets cost $20 and were sold in sequential order at Illinois Lottery retailers. Casper bought his winning ticket, bearing Raffle number 026300 - at 7-Eleven, 10301 South Sawyer Ave., Chicago. The store received a bonus of $10,000, 1 percent of the prize amount, for selling a winning ticket.