Husband can’t believe how much his wife won with Iowa Lottery. ‘Quit joking with me!’

When Sheri Wetjen realized she had won big while playing an Iowa Lottery game, she texted her husband to share the good news.

But she couldn’t get him to believe her.

The 67-year-old wife had won $25,000 a year playing Lucky for Life, according to a news release from the Iowa Lottery.

Her husband’s response? “Quit joking with me!”

They messaged each other several times, officials said, as Wetjen tried to convince her husband she wasn’t playing around.

“He wouldn’t believe me until I scanned the ticket with my phone, took a picture and sent it to him,” she said in the release. “And yeah, then he had to believe it.”

The “long-time clerk” of the Williamsburg Post Office bought her winning ticket at a Casey’s convenience store in Williamsburg, according to the news release. It cost $2.

And while she couldn’t wait to tell her husband, she managed to keep her big win a secret until after claiming her prize on Feb. 28. She joked that she had to bite her tongue to avoid spilling the secret too soon.

“It’s a very small town, so word will spread,” she told lottery officials.

Wetjen’s $25,000 a year for life is the game’s second top prize, according to lottery officials. The prize is described as “lasting as long as you do,” and all winners are guaranteed a payout of at least 20 years of annuity payments.

Winners of this prize level are also offered the option of a lump-sum payout, which Wetjen took, according to the release. She took home $390,000.

“I’ll give a little, we all should,” she told lottery officials. “And then live a little, and take the grandkids on vacation.”

Wetjen also won a $50,000 lottery prize from a scratch game in June 2020, officials said.

Williamsburg is about 90 miles east of Des Moines.

This story was originally published March 1, 2023 at 10:17 AM with the headline "Husband can’t believe how much his wife won with Iowa Lottery. ‘Quit joking with me!’."