It was a bittersweet day for B.C.'s newest lottery millionaires.

Fifty-two-year-old bus driver Glen Bell was in Richmond to pick up a cheque for more than $4.3 million after winning the Lotto 6-49 draw on Saturday.

But as Bell and his family were on their way to the B.C. Lottery Corporation offices they found out about the death of his father-in-law.

Bell says while the family went from jumping with joy to being in tears, they take solace in the fact the money will change a lot of lives for the better.

Bell, a father of three and a grandfather of three, says he and his wife Treva have decided the first lives to change are their children's by helping them buy houses.

Bell says he'll also pay off his own mortgage and keep driving buses for a while until he and his wife figure out what else to do with their windfall.