Retired Quebec couple wins $55M Lotto Max jackpot
Posted November 6, 2023 12:01 pm.
Last Updated November 6, 2023 6:26 pm.
It was a very happy Halloween for a retired Quebec couple who won the $55 million Lotto Max jackpot that night.
“We like Halloween! We like how the kids get all dressed up and we get disguised too,” explained Catherine Ennis and Jean Larocque.
The couple from Coaticook in the Eastern Townships – about 163 kms from Montreal – are the second big Lotto winners from Quebec in a matter of weeks.
They discovered the win the next morning. Catherine, who was baking, didn’t believe Jean at first since he’s a known jokester.
“Jean was checking his tickets, when he came in and said ‘you’ve have got to come see I won’! And I said ‘ya Jean I’m baking leave me alone’. He was shaking, white. We checked the tickets four times maybe, sent the ticket to other people so they could check it too,” explained Catherine at a press conference on Monday morning.
He even slept with the precious ticket in the pocket of his pyjama, waking up a few times to make sure it was still there!
The couple says they won’t be changing much and will continue to live a simple life.
“We’ll see… I like where I live and I have a nice place. Nice people around me. We’re really comfortable,” Catherine said.
They also have no plans of buying anything extravagant.
“We’ve been together a long time and we have only had one car all our lives and I see other people with multiple cars so it might be a good idea? I’m still wondering.”
They also plan on donating some of the money to help their community – which they love.
“Jean is the lottery ticket guy and he gets all excited when there’s a big lottery and I always tell him ‘I don’t know what we would do with that money’ and he says ‘oh we’ll give it away’, so I think that’s what we’ll do,” Catherine added.
The couple buys lottery tickets once in a while – and Jean says he got very lucky – which is unusual because he has never even caught a trout. Fishing is one of his favorite activities. He would like to go fishing in Scotland.
“I only have one fishing rod so maybe I’ll buy another one for salmon. The first lottery ticket I bought I was 16 or 18. I’m really patient. I waited 51 years. My first trout I hope I don’t have to wait 51 years,” Jean added.
On Oct. 6, Montrealer Pierre Richer won $50 million playing Lotto Max – and still made it in to work the very next day at 4:30 a.m.
