Oregon’s first $1 million Mega Millions winner!

Drawing Date: 7/18/2014

July 22, 2014 - Lisa Schmidt always joked that her husband Mark would win the lottery $1 at a time. The Mega Millions drawing on Friday, July 18 sped up the process considerably for the couple from Umatilla!

Thanks to matching five of the six numbers and only missing the Mega Ball number in Friday’s drawing, they became the Oregon Lottery’s first $1 million Mega Millions prize winners.

Mark said he checked the ticket Friday night online, and then spent the weekend thinking about what to do. “I don’t think we slept all weekend,” Mark said when they claimed their prize at the Lottery office in Salem on Monday, July 21. “Now that we have the check, it’s finally real.” After taxes, the Schmidts took home approximately $670,000.

According to both Mark and Lisa the prize couldn’t come at a better time. Mark had been laid off from the chemical depot in Umatilla and will be graduating in two weeks to be certified to do heating, ventilation and cooling work from a technical college. “We are going to use the money to pay off bills and go on a cruise,” Mark said. “Our 9-year-old son, Ryan, wants an Xbox One.”

Mark bought his winning ticket at the McNary Market & Deli in Umatilla and used the Quick Pick method to select the numbers on his $1 ticket.