Clackamas Vietnam Veteran Wins $1 Million Oregon Lottery St. Patrick's Day Raffle

CLACKAMAS, OR – Clackamas man Richard Leber had a lucky St. Patrick's Day.

Listening to the Oregon Lottery St. Patrick's Day Raffle winning numbers read over the radio, Leber said, "When I heard the numbers, I thought 'that's nice, someone won.' Little did I know it was me."

Yet it was, though it would take several visits to various Oregon Lottery facilities before he could confirm it.

Leber checked the numbers from five $10 St. Patrick's Day Raffle tickets at a Fred Meyer and learned that he'd won, though he wasn't told how much –– only that it was more than $600.

After picking up his wife, Leber drove to the Oregon Lottery's Wilsonville Payment Center where he was then told he held the $1 million ticket, which he'd purchased from a Plaid Pantry on Highway 212 in Clackamas Jan. 25.

The Wilsonville center could only pay prizes under $50,000, however, meaning Leber had some more travelling to do.

"Because we had to go to Salem to claim, the trip from Wilsonville to Salem we were very careful," he said. "By the time we got to Salem, I was shaking."

After taxes Leber's winnings total $670,000, some of which he'll use to travel to visit his brother in Arizona and ride his Harley Davidson motorcycle in the Laughlin River Run in Nevada, according to the lottery.

"I have been riding since 1969 so I will be buying a new Harley with the money," he said. "It is going to be so nice to be debt free with this money."

The money will also help Leber, a Vietnam veteran, make his annual trip to Riverside National Cemetery, wherein rest three of his friends who were killed in the war.

"I joined the Marines with one of them," he said. "So I go and visit them each year and make the trip. We are brothers."

With Leber's win, the Oregon Lottery has conducted 17 Raffle games over the years, offering $1 million, $500, and $100 prizes.

Since 1985, the Oregon Lottery has earned more than $11 billion for economic development, public education, state parks and watershed enhancements, Lottery officials said. For more information visit www.oregonlottery.org.

Photo Courtesy: Oregon Lottery