Rockland woman wins $1M in Powerball jackpot

ROCKLAND, Mass. (WHDH) -- A total of four Powerball tickets were sold in the Bay State and they were worth big money and first thing Thursday morning, Mary Gilmore realized she had a winning ticket.

“I never in a million years thought it would be me,” Gilmore said. “I woke my husband up I said, ‘Um, I hate to wake you up, but I think we won a million dollars.’”

Her ticket matched up with Wednesday’s winning numbers except the Powerball; it was 6 -- she had 7.

“I was off by one, just one number on the Powerball, yup,” Gilmore said.

Just one digit separated Gilmore from a share of nearly $600 million. Instead she got a cool $700,000 after taxes.

“I paid my house off already today. And I have two kids that have college loans so we’re going to take care of those and the rest is yet to be determined,” Gilmore said.

She bought the ticket at a nearby convenience store in Rockland; customers can’t stop talking about it.

“I won $9. That’s it…no comparison,” one woman said.

Gilmore’s ticket started out as just a birthday gift for her new boss.

“I bought two tickets with five numbers each on them, one went in his card, one went in my purse,” Gilmore said.

Gilmore was back at work Thursday after claiming her prize; she says the cash won't lead to an early retirement.

“It’s a lot of money, but it’s not enough to make me walk out of my job,” she said.

She also said her boss harbors no ill will.