Friday, Jan. 16, 2004 | 10:11 a.m.
HARRISBURG, Pa. -- A 42-year-old machine operator from York came forward Thursday to claim half of the $221.5 million Powerball lottery jackpot.
Lisa Ensor said she kept the ticket in a safe-deposit box for two weeks as she sought legal and financial advice.
She didn't share the news with most friends and family until Thursday, when she presented her ticket to Pennsylvania Lottery officials and opted for the $60.2 million cash payout.
"You can't imagine -- it's unbelievable ... You just can't comprehend millions of dollars," Ensor said in a late-afternoon news conference in the State Capitol.
Ensor said she and fiance Dale Finkenbiner realized her ticket was the winner around lunchtime on Jan. 1, after checking it against a printout of the winning numbers obtained from the same convenience store where she had purchased it.
"We screamed and jumped and cried," she said.
She has not decided how to spend the money -- or even whether to replace her aging Honda -- but she resigned from her job at a Tyco Electronics Corp. plant and is planning a larger wedding reception.
A York County native, Ensor said she expects to stay in the area. Finkenbiner said they are going to take a trip together.
They have continued to play the lottery, returning daily to the Rutter's store on Route 30 where she purchased the winning ticket and 59 others for the Dec. 31 drawing.
They watched with amusement as speculation mounted about the unclaimed winnings.
"It was great, because we knew and they didn't," said Finkenbiner, manager of a Goodyear Tire warehouse.
The other half of the jackpot -- the fifth-largest Powerball prize -- was won by a couple who purchased their ticket in South Carolina.
Norman and Deanna Shue, of Concord, N.C., claimed their share of the prize two days after the drawing.
Powerball tickets are sold in 24 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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