'53 grad wins
big Powerball prize
Thursday, January 13, 2005
By Len Barcousky
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Jack Basilone was surprised when his longtime bookkeeper suddenly quit her job about two weeks ago.
Now he knows why.
Florence Flaugher Ayers, 69 (a 1953 graduate of New Castle High), and her two children were the sole winners of the $171 million Powerball jackpot.
The Jackson, Butler County, resident and her son, James Ayers, 41, of Mars, and her daughter, Sharon Kreindel, 48, of Beechwood, Ohio, selected a one-time cash payment worth $93.4 million, before federal taxes.
Their winning ticket, purchased at the Country Food Market in New Castle, was drawn Dec. 8. They presented the ticket for validation at lottery headquarters on Monday and were declared the winners yesterday.
No one was home at Ayers' suburban home yesterday.
The family has decided not to hold any news conferences and will make no public statements, according to the Pennsylvania Lottery Bureau.
Neighbors said they had seen no signs of excitement or unusual activity on their street in recent days. Most were tight-lipped, declining to give their names and saying only that Ayers was friendly and family-oriented.
"She's a very nice woman," said Kathy Stern, who lives nearby. "I'd see her children come by with the grandchildren, and they'd often stay for the weekend."
"She's a great lady, and I wish her all the luck in the world," said Basilone, her former employer and a partner in a laundromat and dry cleaning business.
Her late husband, James, had been the accountant for Basilone Inc. until his death several years ago. Florence Ayers had worked as a bookkeeper two or three days each week at the company's Mars office.
Ayers is reliable, organized, conscientious and trustworthy, Basilone said.
"I used to call her 'the boss' sometimes," he recalled during a brief interview at his laundromat on Zelienople's Main Street. "I would joke sometimes about who was paying who."
Now that he knows the reason, Basilone said he wasn't surprised she had quit.
"If I had $93 million, I wouldn't work for an idiot like me either," he said.
He was surprised, however, to find out she gambled at all.
"She didn't talk about it," he said.
Russell DeMatteo, owner of the Country Food Market, said he plans to share some of the $100,000 his store receives for selling the winning ticket, with his workers.
The Dec. 8 jackpot was the second-largest prize in state lottery history and the 10th largest Powerball jackpot ever. Steve and Kristine White of Skillman, N.J., won a cash prize of $110 million, before federal taxes, in the May 8 Powerball drawing.
