Winner of NZ's biggest Lotto draw dies

Margaret Heaney, right, and daughter Fiona Wilton after making another large donation to the Wairarapa District Health Board earlier this year. Photo / Wairarapa Times-Age

One of the winners of New Zealand's largest ever lottery prize has died.

Margaret Heaney of Masterton died "peacefully in her home" on Monday and a service will be held for her in Masterton on Friday.

The 74-year-old won a $36.9 million Big Wednesday jackpot last year in a syndicate with her two daughters and granddaughter.

The syndicate was named "Irish Luck" in honour of Mrs Heaney's late husband John's Irish roots.

Mrs Heaney and her family donated $500,000 of the winnings to the Wairarapa District Health Board, half going towards a new ambulance and the rest spent on nursing equipment.

"Me and John used the ambulance a lot, it's time to put something back into the service," she said in December last year.

The ambulance has been dubbed "the Shamrock" and sports two four-leaf clovers on its rear doors.

New Zealand Lotteries Commission spokeswoman Karen Jones said Mrs Healey was a "very special winner".

"Margaret was one of our most generous winners," Ms Jones said. "Our sympathies go out to her family."

Mrs Heaney's neighbour Bronwyn Hutching last year told the Herald she had worked in the Navy in her younger days and was a keen gardener.