'I never win anything,' Powerball winner says

Michael and Kathleen Kearney discuss their good fortune.

DOVER, Delaware (CNN) -- "I never win anything," a Delaware woman said Thursday as she and her brother collected their share of last Saturday's $295 million Powerball jackpot.

Claiming their prize of $41.5 million at Delaware Lottery Headquarters, Kathleen and Michael Kearney were the last of those holding one of the four winning tickets to come forward.

Kathleen Kearney, an elementary school teacher, said they did not know they had won until Wednesday, "because I never win anything" and she had not bothered to check the tickets.

It was only at the urging of her brother Michael, a Pittsburgh attorney, that she bought $55 worth of tickets just a few hours before the drawing. They were all "quick picks," meaning the numbers were randomly selected by the machine.

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"She knew that I would nag her if she didn't buy a ticket and somebody had won in Delaware, so she went ahead and went out and bought the tickets," said Michael Kearney.

On Tuesday, Kathleen Kearney reported to her brother that a winning ticket had been sold in the same area where she bought hers and that no one had come forward yet.

"I said wasn't it going to be a shame, because I probably missed it by 10 minutes," she laughingly recalled.

When Michael Kearney urged her to check their tickets, she had to go to a store to get a printout of the winning numbers. She called him with the good news Wednesday evening.

Kathleen Kearney said she would not quit her job because she loves teaching first-graders. She has not yet told her students or her bosses at the school.

They have not decided what they plan to do with their winnings. "I guess we'll help the economy somewhat. Pay our fair share of taxes," she laughed.

Delaware allows lottery winners to remain anonymous.

Among the other winners are Pat and Erwin Wales, a Maine couple who faced a short-lived claim from four of Pat's co-workers who suspected the ticket was bought with office pool money. They dropped the claim Thursday after it was shown the ticket was bought separately.

The first winner to come forward after Saturday's drawing was David Edwards of Ashland, Kentucky, an ex-convict who had turned his life around only to lose his job. Now he plans to help his family with part of his winnings.

Sheryel Hanuman, a medical records clerk in her 40s with a husband and three young sons, held the other winning ticket, one of just five she bought at a supermarket in Roseville, Minnesota. It was only her fourth time playing Powerball.

Last weekend's jackpot was just shy of the $295.7 million won by a group of Ohio factory workers in 1998. It ranks as the third largest lottery jackpot ever in the United States. The largest was a $363 million Big Game prize won by two players.