Lottery Really Delivers for San Clemente Driver

Last week, Roy Bannister was a paint deliveryman. Today, he is the more-than-6-million-dollar man.

Bannister, 72, is still driving a truck because he never set anything aside for his retirement. After winning $6.5 million in the state lottery last weekend, the San Clemente resident figures it’s now safe to quit his job.

“I’ll wait for them to train a replacement,” he said Monday. “Then I’m gone.”

A dedicated lottery player since the game’s inception in California, Bannister said his biggest previous win was $90. So when he took his weekly walk Sunday to a nearby 7-Eleven store on El Camino Real to check his Super Lotto Quick Pick numbers, Bannister wasn’t really expecting to become the state’s newest multimillionaire.

“It wasn’t the first thing on my mind,” he said. “But there’s a little part of you that always hopes it’s your turn.”

Bannister looked at the week’s winning numbers on a tote board in the store. He saw the first three numbers matched his ticket and thought, “Well, that’s a $5 winner.”

A split second and a few digits later, Bannister was a multimillionaire.

“I started shaking in my boots,” he said.

Bannister says there is irony in the fact that he is now wealthier than the city he has lived in for 25 years. Faced with a chronic budget shortfall, San Clemente city officials are debating how to tackle their latest financial woes.

“Maybe I can loan them a few dollars,” Bannister joked. “Probably not.”

At this point, the single grandfather’s plans for his newfound wealth are modest. No Beverly Hills mansion or Las Vegas gambling sprees are in his future.

“Don’t give me any ideas,” he said, laughing. “I’ll pay for my son’s college education, buy a car and maybe rent a better place here in San Clemente.”

After all the furor dies down, Bannister plans a leisurely trip by car to visit relatives in Canada.

“I haven’t seen them for about 20 years,” he said. “I hope they recognize me.”

His first phone call after discovering he was now very, very rich, was to his daughter Carol.

“I still can’t believe it,” she said. “It’s still sinking in. All I can say is that I didn’t sleep too well last night. I’m sure I will sleep pretty good in the future, though.”