A Dubuque County Man Got Engaged, Then The Next Day Hit Big On The Lottery
Nick Miller of Bernard Claims Prize Of Nearly $400,000
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CLIVE, Iowa - His marriage proposal was accepted on a Friday night, then the next morning, he won a lottery prize of nearly $400,000.
Nick Miller of Bernard said that even he is struggling to wrap his head around it all.
"I'm ready for the next parts of life, I guess!" he said with a laugh as he claimed his prize Monday at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive.
Miller, 31, said that his fiancée, Lauren Timmerman, accepted his marriage proposal on June 23, then the next morning, he needed to work cattle with his brother. On his way there, he stopped for coffee and a slice of breakfast pizza at Casey's, 717 First Ave. E. in Cascade.
Miller said he noticed while he was there that the jackpot in the Super 7s Progressive InstaPlay game had climbed to nearly $400,000, so he decided to buy a ticket.
"I went back to my truck and the first thing I did was look down to the progressive jackpot game and started matching my winning numbers," Miller said. "And I had one and then two and then I saw the third one, so I had to do a double-take and check them again. Eventually, I checked them on my mobile app, and sure enough, it was the winner."
Miller won the game's progressive jackpot of nearly $390,191. The big prize had been growing for more than two months to reach that level. Prior to Miller's win, it had last been hit April 4 with a ticket purchased in Marion.
Super 7s Progressive InstaPlay is a $30 game. Its jackpot starts at $50,000 and increases with each ticket sold statewide until it is won.
Miller, who farms with his family and works at Rail-Way Inc., a Cascade company that produces railroad crossings, said he was bursting with the news after his win, but he knew that he and his fiancée were leaving for a week-long family vacation in Florida, so he kept things pretty quiet. He admits his mind kept returning to his big win.
"Once in a while I would second-guess myself, and be like, 'I hope that was the winning ticket,'" he said.
Miller said his win is a good way to start an engagement.
"There is the wedding and a house to start doing some work on," he said. "It will definitely go a long way towards both of those."
Miller's InstaPlay jackpot was one of four major prizes won in Iowa during a five-day span in late June. The lucky streak started with a $1 million Mega Millions® prize won June 23 in Davenport. Then on June 24, Miller won his InstaPlay prize in Cascade while a Powerball® prize of $2 million was won in Ottumwa. And on June 27, a prize of $25,000 a year for life in the Lucky for Life® game was won in Centerville.
With Miller's prize claim, the $1 million Mega Millions prize in Davenport is the only one of the four that remains unclaimed.
Miller said he knows word will spread of his lottery win, and thinks that now people will believe him.
"My mom believed me because she knows when I have a serious face, I guess," he said. "Everyone else, it took a lot of convincing."
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