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Boeing Painter Wins $1.6M, But Paints On

Monday, May 23, 2011

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A Boeing aircraft painter who won $1.6 million in the Missouri Lottery will get out of debt and buy a bigger house for his family of seven, but says he will keep his job.

Kenneth Buckner, 56, of University City, MO, used Quick Pick to match all six numbers drawn in the Lotto drawing on May 15.

Buckner, a father of five, told Missouri lottery officials that he planned to pay off debts and buy a larger home for him and his wife.

Staying on the Job

Buckner told PaintSquare News that he had been a painter on multiple types of Boeing aircraft in St. Louis County since the mid-1980s and, despite his winnings, had no plans to quit his job. He declined further comment.

Buckner can collect his prize as either a one-time lump-sum payment of $800,000 (before taxes) or in payments of $64,000 a year (before taxes) for 25 years, a lottery spokeswoman said.

“He's not sure how he's going to take it,” she said.

Buckner told lottery officials that he tries to play Missouri Lotto every day. He bought the winning ticket at a local supermarket. After he saw that he had all six numbers (11, 13, 20, 29, 40 and 42), Buckner said he told his wife, who didn't believe him at first, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

After she got her glasses for a closer look, she exclaimed, “You did.”

Life in Luckytown

“I always told my friends at work that one day I want to go to Luckytown, and I finally made it,” Buckner told the lottery officials.

“Luckytown” is a fictional place featured in the lottery's ads.

Lotto is a twice-weekly draw game with jackpots that start at $1 million and grow until someone wins.

Comment from Jose Joven, (5/24/2011, 6:27 AM)

Poor guy, $800k just ain't what it used to be.

Comment from Tom Schwerdt, (5/24/2011, 8:27 AM)

Jose, he's not even getting $800k - there's a 35% federal tax, social security/FICA on some of it and a 6% Missouri tax. "$1.6 MILLION!" at the headline level (complete fabrication) $800k is what he is really winning $460k is about what he will get in his hands after state and federal taxes. I'm guessing $300k left after he pays his debts (mortgage, cars credit cards) Depending on whether he has real equity in his current house, probably something like $100k left after buying the bigger house, if he is fairly reasonable on choosing a house. Might be $less. 7 mouths to feed. Most every relative and friend asking to borrow a few bucks, and hey - he at least want a party! Figure $50k gets blown or "lent" out. So.... he's not going to try and retire on $50k.

Comment from Tom Schwerdt, (5/24/2011, 8:27 AM)

Too bad this forum ignores formatting/line breaks for comments.

Comment from paul mellon, (5/25/2011, 5:19 AM)

Tom is right on target with his numbers. Keep that in mind when you you hear the "tax the rich" arguements from the left. The so called rich in this country already pay most of the taxes.