$7.25 million lottery winner from Batavia announced

A Batavia woman won $7.25 million on a Lotto ticket purchase in Batavia, and her neighbors couldn’t be happier for her.

“They’re good people,” 7-Eleven store franchise owner Rick Niedfeldt said of winner Ancelma Martinez and her husband who bought the winning ticket Dec. 17. “The neighborhood seems to be happy that someone from the neighborhood won.”

Niedfeldt said it is the biggest prize won at his store, which he opened 25 years ago as a White Hen Pantry.

“It’s a very pleasant topic of conversation” at the checkout counter, he said, especially compared to the stories in the tabloid newspapers sold there.

He has not noticed an uptick in business since lottery officials announced the winner was sold there. But winter is the store’s slow season, he said.

The 7-Eleven corporation will share half of its $72,500 commission with Niedfeldt, he said.

Lottery officials announced Martinez as the winner Tuesday, according to a prepared statement.

Martinez discovered her good fortune while checking the numbers on her Quick Pick ticket in a newspaper over breakfast at the Lumes Pancake House in Batavia.

“I almost spilled my coffee everywhere,” Martinez told lottery officials.

The Martinezes have lived in Batavia for 33 years. They plan to share the prize with their five children and six grandchildren, pay off their mortgage and a car loan, and take a vacation to Mexico.

She took the prize in a one-time payment of $5.51 million, less taxes.

Martinez plays one $2 Lotto ticket each week, Lottery officials said.