Spokane couple newest lottery millionaires

Nat Louik can start shopping for that 1970 ‘Cuda he’s always wanted.

And he doesn’t have to worry about the cost of gas.

Louik and his wife, Brandee, became the state’s newest millionaires in Saturday’s Washington Lotto drawing.

The South Hill couple, who held the winning ticket, received a check Tuesday for $1.24 million after taxes. The jackpot had been $3.3 million if taken over 25 years; they chose the one-time check instead.

The odds of winning were about 1 in 6.99 million.

The couple plans to set up college funds for their children, ages 10, 12 and 13.

Other than that, “we’re going to take a little bit of time to reflect,” Brandee Louik said.

Nat Louik, 43, a general contractor, bought the ticket on Dec. 20 at the Zip Trip at U.S. Highway 2 and Mt. Spokane Park Drive. He was returning home after a day of work at Priest Lake, Idaho.

Louik said he regularly bought Lotto tickets when getting gas, and he and his wife had the occasional “what would you do if you won the Lotto” conversation. He always said he would buy a 1970 Plymouth Barracuda convertible.

But Brandee Louik, owner of First Choice Mortgage, said they will have to wait and see about the car.

Brandee Louik realized the ticket was a winner on Christmas Eve, which was also her 39th birthday. She said they were watching the news when they saw an announcement that a winning Lotto ticket had been purchased at the station.

“I go, ‘Wow, I bought my ticket there,’ ” Nat Louik said. He got the ticket out of his wallet and gave it to his wife.

Brandee Louik said she remembered the first three numbers as well as the last number so she checked it against their ticket. Nat Louik had purchased the ticket for $5, which gave him 10 chances to win. Along the first row were the numbers 3, 17, 23, 26, 34 and 43. With four numbers matching, Louik said, she called her mother to get the final two from the newspaper.

It was a match.

The couple took turns checking the Lotto Web site, confirming the numbers.

Even when she held the big check in the Washington’s Lottery office on Sprague, Brandee Louik said it didn’t seem real.

Zip Trip President Ian Johnstone said there was a lot of excitement after the announcement that a winning Lotto ticket had been purchased at the store.

“When they told me, I didn’t even know what to do,” he said.

It was the first time a jackpot-winning Lotto ticket has been sold in the 14 years he has been with the company, Johnstone said.

He added that Zip Trip will get a bonus from Washington’s Lottery for selling the ticket.

“It’s neat for the people that won and it’s neat for the store and it’s neat for our company,” he said.

The money comes at a good time for the Louiks. Nat Louik saw a doctor last year about what he thought was a hernia. It turned out to be cancer and, though he has his health back, the time he spent in treatment, without working, put a financial strain on the family.

Brandee Louik said she doesn’t want the money to change their lives. She said her youngest, while not totally clear on the concept of having millionaire parents, did ask for a raise in his allowance. Louik said he had recently received a raise, so she said no.

And both the Louiks are planning to keep working.

But there will be some changes. Nat Louik said his brother-in-law bought a Lotto ticket for the first time after the big win and asked him to touch it for luck.