Catching up with PCH $1 Million Winner Karl Jonsson!
Just a few days before Christmas, the Prize Patrol arrived in spacious Wisconsin, armed with a Big Check to the tune of $1 Million, plus a sweet “live check” of $25,000.00 to get $1 Million winner, Karl Jonsson, started off right!
As they headed over to the lucky winner’s home, there was just one question they didn’t anticipate: did they have the right Karl Jonsson. You see, both Karl and his father, also named Karl, are PCH entrants! So when Dave Sayer and the Prize Patrol showed up at Karl Jonsson’s house, the Karl Jonsson that answered the door had to know one thing: what was the middle initial on the live check?
Thankfully it turns out, the right Karl answered the door! Watch his stunned reaction below and then read on to hear how he’s doing today!
[tube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPY4uyF5m40[/tube]
As you can see from that video, Karl is very grateful for this amazing blessing. Coming into this huge $1,000,000.00 windfall isn’t something Karl takes lightly. He’s given his future a lot of serious thought.
“Going from having literally negative money…I don’t want to look back and ask, ‘where did it all go?’ I want to be a good steward, as they say.” With that in mind, Karl tells us he is doing his best to make sure that every cent is spent wisely.
“When you win Publishers Clearing House, I’d tell people you have to step back and look [at your life]. Slow everything down…live the way lived before [you got the money] until you figure things out. Don’t be anxious!”
While Karl wasn’t ever 100% sure he’d win, entering PCH is certainly something he stuck with throughout the years. “Off and on I have probably entered since I was 18. Just about 26 years. Every time it would come to the house, I would fill it out and send it in. When the app and computer came out, I went online. [I figured] if I was online anyways, I’d just do it!”
“I never doubted that it was real,” Karl reassures us. “You can’t get that reaction from people on their doorstep. I never thought it wasn’t real. But, my wife came in the room when I was talking with Dave Sayer and had to flat out ask, ‘wait, you’re trying to tell me this is real?’”
Times had been challenging for Karl and his family, so this was some money that they could really use.
“I’m an injured electrician, and I’ve been off work for a few years. So I was watching TV, my daughter was home sick, my wife was sick, so I was just hanging around tending to their needs. I was just doing my thing, walking around in just my sweatpants. Then my parents dog started barking, and my daughter looks out the window and says, ‘hey, the money people are here for Grandma and Grandpa!’ I saw Dave, so I ran over to [their side of the house where the main door is], threw on a sweatshirt and answered the door. Once we did the whole middle initial thing, my first thought was ‘it should have been my parents.’”
As you can tell, Karl is a nice guy whose first thought it always for his family. In fact, his future plans for the money are all about his family!
“My big plan is to eventually buy a nice sized chunk of land and divvy it up among my six kids so we can all have our own homes and help take care of each other.”
Obviously Karl has a big heart, and he definitely describes himself as a “behind the scenes” kind of guy. We wish him the best of luck for the future, and we can’t wait to follow up with him again to see how his land investment goes!
But before we go, Karl had these last parting thoughts for his fellow PCH friends:
“Keep entering and…it works! It’s real.”
Matt K.
PCH Creative
P.S. – What types of things give you the inspiration to keep on trying to reach your goals? Tell us in the comments below!
