Seattle couple’s Powerball win is first for Washington

OLYMPIA – A suburban Seattle couple who claimed a $90 million Powerball jackpot said they both will quit their jobs at Boeing and then travel, take care of their family and buy a new car.

Lisa N. and Everett Quam already have picked out the car – a Subaru Forester.

At a news conference Thursday, Lisa Quam said she took a break from cooking on Thanksgiving Day and ran to the grocery store with her husband to pick up a newspaper with the Black Friday ads and some pumpkin spice.

They bought two Powerball tickets while checking out.

“The cashier was really nice and asked if we wanted to purchase Powerball. I said, ‘Sure!’ I had never purchased a Powerball ticket before,” she said.

Lisa Quam checked the numbers Sunday night.

“I yelled to my family, ‘Get up here!’ They all thought I was mad and angry about something. My daughter asked, ‘Is this an emergency?’ and I said, ‘Yes!’ ”

She calls herself a “special occasions” lottery player and said it was her first time buying Powerball tickets, KING reported.

“I am not a lucky person,” Lisa Quam said. “My husband says it’s just dumb luck.”

She worked as a sourcing specialist at Boeing, managing contracts, for 25 years. Her husband of 32 years was a Boeing mechanic for 16 years.

The couple from suburban Auburn were still deciding Thursday whether to take the money in 30 annual payments or a lump sum of $56.8 million, Washington state lottery spokeswoman Jennifer Carroll said.

The ticket for Saturday’s drawing was the first winning Powerball ticket sold in Washington since the game began there in 2010, Carroll said. Powerball is played in 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.