Rome mill worker William Griffin wins $15 million jackpot

Once a week for the past three years, Rome millworker William Griffin laid aside $1 to purchase a Quik Pik lottery ticket, despite his wife's objections.

Last Saturday, Griffin — seeing that the Lotto South jackpot had reached $27 million — decided to splurge, plunking down $5 for five chances. It ended up being worth more than $15 million to Griffin, who won the largest Lotto South payout in history.

Griffin's prize will stand as Lotto South's largest. The Georgia-Kentucky-Virginia lottery game is being retired at the end of the month, more than four years after it began, in favor of a new contest that pays winners $1,000 a week for the rest of the winner's life.

The Lotto South jackpot for tonight's drawing is estimated at $2.5 million.

"I almost fainted," Griffin said when he learned of his outrageous fortune. "I called my 13-year-old son over to verify the numbers," he said.

Christopher Griffin was unfazed, according to his father: "Yes, Dad, they match ... so what?"

His wife, Rita, a secretary for an adult retirement community, was at first doubtful of her husband's newfound riches. "I called my wife and she didn't believe me," said Griffin, who beat the odds of about 14 million-to-one.

"I thought he was having a heart attack," his wife of 19 years responded. "He was breathing heavy and could hardly get the words out."

Both Griffins were breathing easier Friday as they held an oversized novelty check for $15,418,008 (the cash option total of the jackpot before taxes). No more counting pennies, as Rita Griffin put it. More important, no more worries about paying for their son's college tuition.

"That's been the main thing that's been hanging over our heads," Rita Griffin said. Before, they were betting on their 17-year-old son, Tristan, a senior at the private Darlington School in Rome, earning a HOPE scholarship, but "I don't think we'll need that anymore," William Griffin said.

The Rome native has worked as a millwright at the Temple-Inland Inc. paper mill for 32 years. He's not sure whether he'll return.

"I'm on vacation now," said Griffin, 49. "All they know is that I'm going to be on vacation for awhile."

His wife was less circumspect about her future. "I'm retired," she said with a smile when asked if she'd be returning to work.

As for the lottery, Rita Griffin said she's glad her husband ignored her advice and bought the ticket.

"She's not about the lottery," William Griffin said, recalling her needling: "You're never going to win, so why play?"