March 4, 1958
Oct. 3, 1957–A former Santa Monica councilman was announced as
winner of the $140,000 capital prize in the Irish Sweepstakes today.
Jack Guercio, 49, had a ticket on Stephanotis, which brought home his $140,000 by winning the Cambridgeshire Handicap.
Guercio
resides at 1703 Maple St. with his wife, Pauline, and two youngest
sons, Vincent, 17, and Jackie Jr., 13. His oldest son, Ronald, 23, is
married.
Mrs. Guercio, overwhelmed by her husband’s fortune, told reporters:
"I’d like a trip to Honolulu for the whole family, and maybe a new car."
Her
husband’s plans were more conservative. "It’ll send the boys to
college, help us redecorate our home and probably pay off the mortgage."
At the time of Jack Guercio’s
windfall, I figured he was too damn blase about the whole affair. And
if there’s anything that annoys me, it’s a man who can keep his wits
about him after winning $140,000.
So, for the last few months I’ve been waiting. I’ve been waiting for Guercio to get his hands on that green–and to go stark raving out of his mind, like any respectable amateur gambler would do.
Then, I figured, I’d call him up. And let him pour our his soul to me–about how he frittered all those beautiful green dollars.
So yesterday I phoned him.
"Paul Coates," I said. "How’s everything going, Jack?"
"Fine," he said. "Just fine."
"The wife?"
"Fine."
"The $140,000?"
"The what?" he demanded.
"The $140,000," I repeated.
"Oh," he said. "That! That’s fine too–what there’s left of it."
Now I was getting somewhere. "Been having a ball, eh?" I pressed.
Guercio laughed, casually. "I mean what’s left of it after the income tax men took theirs."
"I see," I said. "But how about your share?"
"Like I told you," he repeated, "it’s fine."
"Bought a lot of nice luxuries with it, I’ll bet?"
"No," he said.
"New house?"
"No."
"But you DID redecorate the old one," I insisted. "After all, it’s been over four months."
Guercio chuckled evenly. "Not yet. But we’re thinking about it."
"The mortgage, then. You’ve paid that off."
"No," was the reply. "Not yet."
The
man was being difficult. "So," I finally ventured, "you took the wife
and kids on that luxury cruise to Hawaii, like she wanted. Like she’d
always dreamed of."
There was a pause. Finally, Guercio answered: "As a matter of fact, no."
"Come
on, Jack," I pleaded. "You’ve been swamped with all kinds of offers.
Trips. yachts. Expensive cars. You must have bitten on some of them."
"Paul, it’s surprising. But hardly anybody’s pestered us at all."
"The money!" I demanded. "The money? Where is it?"
Guercio laughed, harshly. "It may be gathering dust but it’s gathering interest too. Something for the boys’ education."
"You mean to say," I asked, "You didn’t even make a trip?"
Guercio
told me that he didn’t mean to say anything of the kind. "Didn’t you
hear? My wife and I took the two youngest boys over to Ireland."
"Then you did squander some of it?"
"What happened," Guercio
explained, "is that I went to my local bank and they refused to collect
our winnings for us. They didn’t want to get involved. So I figured–"
"So you blew a big chunk of it on a fancy trip to Europe," I interrupted.
"Well," Guercio admitted. "The four of us did go. It was a very pleasant vacation."
"Wastrel," I hissed half-heartedly, hanging up.
