A man forgot about a lottery ticket in a drawer. It won $100K, and he turned it in just in time, thanks to his wife.

A West Roxbury man claimed his $100,000 prize just 11 days before his winning ticket was set to expire, according to the Massachusetts Lottery.

The winning lottery numbers were drawn on March 17, 2022, but nearly a year went by with no one claiming the Mass Cash prize.

Last week, the Lottery issued a reminder to the public about the prize, warning that there were only a couple weeks left for the winner to claim it.

John Butler proudly secured his winnings at the Lottery’s Braintree claim center on Monday, explaining to officials that he had bought this ticket along with others at the Star Market at 795 Providence Highway in Dedham just before he left on a trip to Florida last year.

He had placed the tickets in a drawer and forgot about them. He didn’t check the numbers until last week, when his wife told him about a news story she had seen about the unclaimed prize.

The winning numbers for this drawing were 03-10-11-18-22, which Butler had reportedly selected based on birthdates.

“We are thrilled that Mr. Butler’s wife saw the Lottery announcement in the news about the unclaimed ticket! What a great reminder to keep your tickets in a safe place and always make sure to check them,” State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, chair of the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission, said in a statement. “You will never know when you might be as lucky as the Butlers.”

The Star Market in Dedham also received a $1,000 bonus for its sale of the winning ticket, according to state officials.

Mass Cash and other draw-game prize winners have one year from the date of the drawing to claim their prize, the Lottery Commission noted in a statement.

If a prize expires, it becomes part of the net profit that gets redistributed back to all 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts, the commission said.

Mass Cash tickets cost $1 to play, and drawings take place every night.

“To play, you must pick five out of 35 numbers or choose Quic Pic, which randomly picks the five numbers for you,” the commission noted. “Tickets that match all five winning numbers selected in the drawing win the game’s top prize.”

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