Luck in Lottery Brings Couple Luck in Love--They’ve Married
A couple who both hit million-dollar-plus tickets in the Illinois lottery were married Wednesday, six months after they met at a reunion given by the state for lottery winners.
Tony Chernetsky, 40, and Jonell Walts, 39, had planned to be married in Evansville, Ind., where they live, but eloped 10 days before the scheduled event to tie the knot at a Las Vegas wedding chapel.
“It’s been a lucky year,” said Chernetsky, who won $2 million in February, 1986. The couple met last July at a reunion given by the State of Illinois for lottery winners. Walts had won $3.2 million in March, 1985.
“We just hit it off right away,” said Chernetsky, who has been married twice before. “We met the first day of the three-day reunion and ended up spending the three days together.”
Chernetsky and his new wife quit their jobs after hitting the lottery. He had been the head of an electrical worker’s union in Davenport, Iowa, while she worked at a department store in Evansville.
Chernetsky said he will get an annual check of about $85,000 for the next 20 years, while his wife gets about $170,000.
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