Newest Lotto Millionaire Buys Winning Ticket in St. Peters

The Missouri Lottery's newest millionaire has a name: Bob Church.

Church, a Chesterfield firefighter, is the first Missouri Lottery player to claim the top prize on a “Millionaire” Scratchers ticket. Church, 60, picked up the winning ticket at Aro-Mart, 3755 Harvester Road, in St. Peters. 

Church told the lottery he was leaving his job in Chesterfield heading to his home in St. Charles when he stopped to buy the ticket. In fact, Church was leaving the firehouse on his last day of work prior to vacation. The winning ticket put the vacation off to a good start. 

“It’s still kind of trying to sink in,” Church told the Lottery. “I’ve been with this fire department for 37 years. With our retirement, I was hoping to retire next October and struggle through it. But now, it looks like it might be this October.”

The Aro-Mart in St. Peters is Church's regular stop for Scratchers tickets. He said after scratching the ticket, he stared it for 10 minutes. Once he was sure he had won, he called his wife, Dawn. 

Church's wife was skeptical it was an actual winning ticket. So Church took the ticket to the St. Louis Lottery office. While there, he was told that top prize winners in the “Millionaire” game can take the $1 million prize as a 20-year annuity or a lump sum of $700,000. After consulting with his retirement advisor, Church settled on the lump sum. 

Church said he's going to use his winnings to pay off his house, cars and some bills in an effort to make retirement easier. 

Church said he likes to play Scratchers because he feels like he wins more often. He has won prizes of $1,000 and $2,000 in the past.