Cumberland man 'rolled his eyes' at wife before winning 25K a year for life

On Tuesday, the family had won $25,000 a year -- for life!

According to the N.C. Education Lottery, Nunnery's wife called out, “Get me a Lucky For Life ticket!" before he headed to the Exprezit convenience store on N. Ramsey Street in Linden. That ticket led to the phone call Nunnery got Tuesday morning.

As Nunnery claimed his prize Tuesday with his wife, a daughter, and a grandson by his side, he looked over at his wife and said, “I told her, the rolling my eyes is over.”

Nunnery said while the good luck is a blessing, it pales to the blessing he’s had over the last four years as he recovered from a brain aneurysm.

The former maintenance contractor at Fort Bragg remains disabled, but he says doctors tell him he’s lucky to be around. “I get to see my grandchildren, my wife, more, and my kids, more,” he said.

Winners of the top two prizes in Lucky For Life get a choice. They can claim their prize as an annuity that pays every year for the rest of their life or they can take a lump sum. Nunnery said some things needed to be done with his home and for his family, so he opted for the lump sum of $390,000.

After federal and state tax withholdings, he took home $274,954.

He says he plans to pay off the mortgage, do some home improvement projects and take care of some bills. He says he also wanted to “give a little to some people I love very much and give some to my church.”

"Do you feel lucky?" Nunnery said his wife asked him.

With odds of one in 1.8 million in winning this prize, Nunnery is the sixteenth person to win the game’s second prize so far in North Carolina.