A small business owner who bought a single quick-pick Powerball ticket with spare change from a milk purchase claimed the $97 million top prize from January’s drawing.

Carl Hunter, 73, and his wife Dianne, who lost two homes in Katrina, talked about winning several lifetimes worth of money Thursday for the first time.

Hunter said he and his wife had already bought their Powerball tickets for the January 16 drawing when Dianne called him and asked him to stop for milk on the way home. Carl stopped at a convenience store in Metairie to buy the milk and he used some spare change to purchase another ticket on a whim.

“I was really shocked,” he said about the moment when he realized he had won. “I had to look at the ticket two to three times to make sure it was correct.”

The Hunters elected to take the lump sum option instead of the monthly payments, which would have earned interest. After taking out the projected interest and taxes, the lump sum was close to $34 million. Hunter said he plans to retire and his first purchase will go towards fixing up a fishing camp they lost in the storm.

This was not the Hunters’ first Powerball prize. They won $5,000 ten years ago when he hit four numbers and the Powerball.

Hunter owns CB Hunter Construction in Metairie, and even though he knew he won in January, continued working, finishing up contracts and unfinished business before claiming the award.