Do yourself a favor, men: Listen to your wives.
Powerball winner William ten Broeke, 46, just deposited the largest check of his life into his bank account because of a gentle nudge from his better half.
He was shopping at the Publix in Brookhaven when his wife posed a life-altering question.
“Aren’t you going to get a ticket?” Heather ten Broeke, 38, asked.
Without that reminder, William ten Broeke said he would have forgotten to purchase the ticket, which turned out to be worth more than $246.7 million.
The ten Broekes, who have been married five years and have one child, claimed their prize Monday at Georgia Lottery headquarters, officials said in a news release. The couple selected the cash option, which earned them $165.6 million before taxes.
Days after the drawing, the ten Broekes saw news reports that a winning ticket purchased in Brookhaven had not been claimed. The winning numbers from the Sept. 17 drawing were 9, 19, 51, 55 and 62. The Powerball was 14. The ten Broekes checked — and rechecked — the numbers on their ticket.
“We were shocked,” said William ten Broeke, a commercial credit officer. “We couldn’t believe it.”
They plan to invest their winnings, travel, help family and donate to charity.
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