Advertisement
Paul Rosenau even thinks he’ll keep mowing his own lawn.
The Waseca couple humbly accepted a ceremonial check on Tuesday for the prize, which they’ll take in a lump-sum for a total of $59.6 million after taxes.
“We realize that money is probably not as important as friendship and helping others. And that’s what we hope to do with it,” Paul Rosenau said with tears in his eyes. The room full of Minnesota State Lottery employees attending the news conference applauded.
Rosenau, 54, also said he believes “divine intervention” had something to do with the matching numbers, which he discovered Sunday while watching the news on TV. The win — Minnesota’s largest Powerball jackpot prize ever — came on the fifth anniversary of the death of the Rosenaus’ granddaughter, Makayla. The 2-year-old had suffered from Krabbe disease, a genetic disorder that affects the nervous system.
“It’s very emotional to know that there’s a reason for this,” Sue Rosenau said, adding that the family has already been involved in efforts to make a Krabbe test a part of routine newborn screenings.
It’s possible some of the Powerball winnings might go toward fighting the disease, which is treatable, but the Rosenaus said they haven’t decided yet what to do with the money.
“It’s been such a whirlwind,” Paul Rosenau said. “It still hasn’t sunk in.”
He bought the winning Powerball ticket at Hy-Vee Gas in the southern Minnesota city of Faribault, where he works for Met-Con Companies Inc.
It wasn’t until watching the news Sunday night that the Rosenaus checked the numbers. In disbelief about their winning ticket, they drove that night to Sue’s work at the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute in Waseca to use the Internet to check the numbers again.
“We didn’t really sleep that night,” Paul Rosenau said, joking that he counted 283 bumps on the ceiling of their bedroom while lying awake.
He checked the newspaper early Monday morning to make sure before finally calling their accountant, Dale DeRaad. They also called their three adult children with the news.
“It was kind of hard to talk with them. You couldn’t hear over all the screaming,” he said.
Rosenau said there are things he and his 54-year-old wife have dreamed of — a new house, a vacation to Hawaii, taking a trip with their children — but for the most part they felt fortunate before they found out they won the Powerball jackpot.
“We don’t need a lot. We’ve got more than what we need,” he said. “We want to have a regular life.”
The Rosenaus have appointed DeRaad to lead a team of people who will help the couple figure out how to manage their money. DeRaad said the Rosenaus will likely set up some sort of foundation with the money, but they haven’t figured out any specifics.
“I can’t express enough what wonderful people they are and what wonderful things they’re going to do with the money,” said DeRaad, who said he has known the Rosenaus for about 15 years.
He said Paul Rosenau has always been careful with his money, using coupons to save money on gas at Hy-Vee and usually bringing a few extra gas cans home to fill his wife’s car.
“They’re not going to change those values,” DeRaad said.
It’s the 20th Powerball jackpot won in Minnesota since the game began in 1992.
