That’ll Be $8.1 Million, Please : Phone Operator Dials Up the Right Lotto Numbers

SAN DIEGO —  A publicity-shy telephone operator who successfully picked the six winning numbers in California’s lotto game claimed her $8.1-million prize Monday.

In doing so, Renee Nawahine Dudoit, 36, a long-distance operator for AT&T; in the San Diego suburb of Bonita, officially became the third grand prize winner since the Lotto 6/49 game started Oct. 14.

Only two weeks ago, another San Diego County man, Gordon Pivar, a 53-year-old shirt salesman from Oceanside, won the biggest prize in California lottery history--$17.9 million.

Until Dudoit, accompanied by friends and relatives, walked into the San Diego lottery office shortly before 11 a.m., the identity of the person who bought the winning lotto ticket at a neighborhood liquor store was unknown.

And except for a fleeting comment of “I’m happy . . . just happy,” as she hugged her 15-year-old son, Vaughn, in the parking lot, that’s mainly the way Dudoit wanted it.

“It’s a little much for her right now,” said Mike Piekarski of Tempe, Ariz., brother of Dudoit’s roommate, Cindy, and the family’s designated spokesman.

Dudoit was concerned, he said, because she did not want a big fuss made of her winnings and she was apprehensive about strangers who may approach her now that she is a rich woman.

“She’s a very private person, that’s all,” Piekarski said. Dudoit, who is divorced, lives in the Encanto neighborhood of San Diego with her roommate and son.

“She’s pretty level-headed and she wants a plan with what to do with that much money,” Piekarski added. He said she has already contacted some investment consultants and planned to talk to several more.

As for her immediate plans, Piekarski said Dudoit will spend part of her money buying a new house and possibly a new car.

Dudoit picked the six winning numbers--3, 5, 22, 36, 37, and 33--based on her Hawaiian heritage and family.

The number 22 was selected because in Hawaii, where Dudoit was born, the affectionate name for grandmother is tutu.

She also used her age and the ages of her 33-year-old sister and 37-year-old best friend. The number 3 was chosen because it is her favorite and 5 because she is one of five children.

Lottery officials said Dudoit’s prize of $8,087,257 will be paid out in after-federal income tax installments of about $325,000 a year for 20 years.

Counseling Groups

Another weekend lotto winner from Fremont in Alameda County said Monday that he plans to donate some of his prize money of nearly $1 million to groups that helped counsel him when his daughter was murdered two years ago.

Paul Fredette, a truck driver who won $954,745 by selecting five numbers and the bonus number correctly, said he will spend most of his winnings on his family and on two groups, Parents of Murdered Children and Second Chance of Newark.

Fredette’s youngest daughter from his first marriage was strangled in 1984 when she was 13. The killer has not been caught.

“I have spent a great deal of money looking for her killer, and now maybe I can do more,” he said.