Dad Dies Soon After Sharing Jackpot

A former auto mechanic who recently got his first check as part of his share in a $31.4 million Powerball jackpot died of natural causes Monday.

Jack Sherrod was 77.

He was rich for less than a week.

Sherrod’s son, Russ, won the jackpot in July and shared part of it with his ailing father. It was the first Powerball jackpot won in Montana.

Sherrod was found dead about 11:30 a.m. Monday at his house in this small community just west of Great Falls, said Cascade County Undersheriff John Strandell. Cause of death was emphysema.

Funeral arrangements were not immediately announced. Survivors include his wife, Dorothy, and his millionaire son.

The father-son team had a running deal for playing the lottery: If either of them won, the man who bought the ticket would share 10 percent of the money with the other.

Jack’s share of Russ’ big win was $97,442, after taxes, to be paid annually for 20 years, and his son’s first check was for $876,984. Both men got their initial checks during a special ceremony by the Montana Lottery last Tuesday.

For two days after lottery officials announced that someone had bought the jackpot-winning ticket in Sun Prairie, no one stepped forward publicly to claim the prize money. Jack Sherrod had not felt well enough to accompany his family to lottery headquarters in Helena to claim the jackpot, so they waited a day.

Lottery officials Monday said that Sherrod’s share of the money now goes to his estate to be settled like any other estate.