Last-Minute Father's Day Lottery Ticket Gift Worth $1M

JEANNETTE, Pa. (AP) — A scratch-off lottery ticket bought as a last-minute Father's Day gift has turned a truck driver into an instant millionaire.

Joseph Morrah, 61, was given the winning $1 Million Payout ticket on Sunday, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.

His daughter, Christina Morrah, put the ticket in a card she gave to him. But his wife, Debbie Morrah, said it was her idea to buy the $20 ticket.

"I said, 'Buy a lottery ticket for him,' because I didn't get him anything, and I felt bad," she said.

Morrah, a supermarket truck driver for 31 years, had fewer than 200 days to retirement but is taking an early exit, thanks to his winnings.

The Morrahs, who live in Jeannette, 25 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, were waiting for the lottery to confirm the ticket was a winner when they spoke to the newspaper on Tuesday.

But the ticket was confirmed as a winner by officials in Harrisburg on Wednesday, Pennsylvania Lottery spokeswoman Lauren Bottaro told The Associated Press. Four other scratch-off tickets with the same game also have the $1 million top prize.

Morrah, who has a 1960s-era Chevrolet Bel-Air, said he plans to buy "another muscle car" and a new pickup truck and give his current one to another daughter, Kimberly Morrah.

"It still hasn't settled in," he told the newspaper. "When I see the check in my hand, then I'll believe it."

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