Powerball winner is real storybook tale

Chronicle Staff

Published: Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

People in Winner were excited when it was announced two weeks ago that the $232 million Powerball winner bought their ticket in, of all places, Winner! It was the talk on the streets, in the businesses and in the homes. The tension mounted for a week before it was officially announced in Pierre that a 23-year-old rancher from nearby Mission claimed one of the biggest undivided jackpots in U.S. history. And, it couldn’t have gone to a more deserving person. Neal Wanless is a quiet, unassuming, modest young man who was born in Winner, attended a country school in Todd County and was salutatorian in his Todd County High School class of 64 students. He attended college briefly and then returned home to help his family on their relatively small 320-acre ranch where they raise cattle, sheep and horses. Available only in the print version of the Custer County Chronicle. To subscribe, call 605-673-2217.