“If you hadn’t read about him in the paper, you’d never know he won

“If you hadn’t read about him in the paper, you’d never know he won the lottery.” That’s what a co-worker said about James Lockhart not long after he and his wife Connie won a $1.4 million Lotto jackpot in December 1992. The Lockharts have chosen to maintain their current lifestyle, even knowing that they have an extra $71,000 each year for the next 19 years, or about $50,000 after taxes. “If you think about it,” says James, “$50,000 is a nice supplement, but not enough to quit your job." As a matter of fact, James sometimes works two jobs, just to stay busy. “I’m not a couch potato,” he says, laughing. “I’m happy where I live, doing what I do,” says James, indicating he and Connie don’t want to move from their three-bedroom brick ranch house between Rustburg and Lynchburg. Nor does James want to quit his job. He is an electronics technician at Ericsson General Electric in Lynchburg, where he has worked for 25 years. Connie is a teacher’s aide for handicapped children at Yellow Branch Elementary School. Community work is as natural as breathing to James. For years before winning the Lotto jackppt, he made special furniture for children with disabilities. James began making school desks because his heart went out to one special girl years ago. “There was a little girl in one of my wife’s classes,” he says. “She couldn’t sit or walk or do anything we take for granted. So I worked with the physical therapist at school and designed a desk just for her. I’ve been making desks for handicapped children ever since.” James charges only for the materials, and makes the desks in his spare time. James also has been involved in his area Little League for 17 years. About three years ago he started working with the World Little League “Challenger League” for handicapped children. “It’s only for children with handicaps,” he says. “Each child has a buddy who helps them run bases, bat and everything. And we cheer for everybody, it doesn’t matter who wins.” With their Lotto winnings, James and Connie have begun fixing up the house they’ve lived in for 17 years. Winning the jackpot has made attending college less complicated for the Lockharts’ daughter Keitha. “She’s an honors student,” says James, “and I would have worked two jobs to send her to college. This makes it a whole lot easier.” “When you win the lottery," says James, “you have to realize what you’re doing, what you want, what makes you happy. You can’t make drastic decisions that you’ll regret later. That’s why Connie and I are staying put in our house, and I’m going to keep working.”

“I love doing it

for the kids.”