Joe.My.God. LGBT News
Last week Florida resident Gloria Mackenzie, 84, came forward as the $590M winner of the largest individual lottery jackpot prize in US history. According to the British tabloid Daily Mail, Mackenzie is going to share the jackpot with her 57 year-old son Scott, who lives in Jacksonville with his partner Jerry, age 65.
Gloria, whose husband Ralph died in 2005, was forced to leave the trailer she had called home for 25 years to move into a run-down $30,000 bungalow in the small town of Zephyrhills, Florida, just one year ago. She had pledged to split the winnings with son Scott, of Jacksonville, Florida, as she was with him when she bought the $2 ticket at a Zephyrhills supermarket on May 18. Gloria has two sons, Larry and Scott, and two daughters, Melinda – known as Mindy – and Jaimie, alongside grandchildren Matthew, Alex, Scott and Lindsay, and two great-grandchildren, Victoria and Ethan. Most of her family remain in her home state of Maine and it remains unknown how, or if, she plans to share the jackpot with them.
After being thrust into the spotlight last week, Gloria spent the weekend with Scott and Jerry, and the trio were seen dining at Jacksonville spot Joe’s Crab Shack on Sunday – where she ate steam pots that cost $22.99 each. On Monday, Scott and Gloria were seen visiting a bank and later shopping at Walmart. They then enjoyed lunch at the Crazy Egg café – where the most expensive item on the menu costs $10.99 – and even asked for a doggy bag of left overs as they departed. Gloria is now planning to move into a luxury new home in the city of Jacksonville, three hours away, with both Scott and Jerry.
The main sources of the Daily Mail’s story are neighbors of both the mother and son, as well as the son’s ex-wife, who claims that she and Scott remained close friends after they divorced ten years ago following his coming out to her. (Tipped by JMG reader John)