Bend lottery winner keeps brotherly jackpot promise

October 3rd was a pretty average day for one of Powerball’s regulars, until 45-year-old Eric Hale of Bend realized he won — and couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“The number with all the zeros,” Hale said Monday. “I was staring at it like it was crazy, and I was trying to count the zeros.”

Now, Hale is counting his blessings with $1 million prize that churned out of the machine at Butler Market Road’s Quickway Market. The drawing was September 24th, but Hale said he waited until very recently to claim his prize.

“I’ve always joked around, ‘When I win the lottery,’ what I’d do in life and things, and you always think, ‘Well I could win,'” he said. “But to actually do it is still shocking to me right now.”

That shock quickly doubled when Hale called his brother in Yakima, Washington.

“I was like, ‘Are you sitting down? Guess what? We won a million dollars.!’

“We”?

That’s right. The man who only works part-time handing out samples has already given half the money to his brother, Quinn.

Hale said he didn’t have to even think twice to keep a decades-old promise.

“When we were kids, it was just something we talked about, and I always figured I’d just split it with my brother,” Hale said.

Word of the winnings has already spread around the Quickway Market regulars.

“We’ve already had a lot more people coming in and buying the Mega Millions and buying the Megabucks,” said store employee Jonathan White.

After taxes, each brother took home more than $330,000.

Hale said he’ll invest most of his money and finally go back to graduate school to finish a counseling degree — but not before he has a little fun first.

“I can’t say it doesn’t change your life,” Hale said. “I’m always like, ‘Shoot, maybe someday’ and now it’s like, ‘I just booked a trip to China for 20 days.”‘

Hale said his brother will use his share of the money to pay off his mortgage, student loans and put a down payment on a motor home.

The Quickway Market will also get $10,000 for selling the winning ticket.

Oregon Lottery officials said it’s the second $1 million prize so far this year in the state. They also said their records show it’s only the second-ever $1 million ticket sold in Bend.