La Mesa Woman’s Bills Were Her Ticket to Millions in Lotto

A retired La Mesa woman was $10,560,600 richer Thursday after correctly picking all six winning numbers in Wednesday’s Lotto 6/49 game.

Similienne M. Schmidt, 66, picked the numbers 3, 12, 18, 25, 34 and 38 on a ticket that state lottery officials said was purchased at the Alpha Beta Market on El Cajon Boulevard in La Mesa. Eight years ago, Schmidt won a van in a contest at the same market, store officials said.

Schmidt, who usually buys three lottery tickets twice weekly, said Thursday that her family had periodically urged her to stop “wasting money” on the tickets--advice that she fortunately ignored.

“I always said to them, ‘I’d like to be a millionaire someday. And they said, ‘Ohhh,’ ” Schmidt said in a televised interview.

Numbers Selected From a ‘Stack of Bills’

Schmidt said she picked the winning numbers from “a stack of bills,” including her water and utility bills.

The $10.6-million jackpot, Schmidt said, will not dramatically change her life.

“I figure, well, I’m just the poor old girl that I used to be,” she said. “I’ll just do my regular . . . work I have around my house, and fix this and fix that, and whatever.”

Smiling broadly, Schmidt, noting that she has an older automobile, added that she might treat herself to a new car--”if I have enough money.”

The market where Schmidt bought her winning ticket has proved to be a good luck charm for local lottery players, according to store manager Wayne Runyon.

Stephen Jacobson, 26, who is also from La Mesa, purchased a scratch-off ticket at the same market that sent him to the Big Spin last month in Sacramento, where he won $1 million.

And, in 1981, Schmidt, a regular customer of the La Mesa store, won a new van raffled off by the market during its grand opening, Runyon said.

Lottery official Charley Rich said that Schmidt, who has two sons, is originally from Canada but has lived in the San Diego area 25 years.

San Diegan 1 of 7 Winners

Meanwhile, an unknown San Diegan was among seven lucky winners who correctly picked five of six numbers plus the bonus number to win $213,686 each. The other winners were from Union City, Santa Clara, Ojai, Torrance, Redondo Beach and Burlingame.

Lottery officials said 271 people correctly picked five of six numbers, winning $2,843 each.

It is estimated that Saturday’s lottery jackpot will be $5 million.