A couple from Boone has been keeping a big secret for more than a month.
Today , they finally came forward and claimed a one-million dollar prize from a Powerball drawing on April 30.
Mary Tillman learned she had the winning ticket on May 2 after her mother called to see if she had checked her numbers.
“I said ‘oh my God’ and she said ‘no.’ I said, ‘yes, yes, it’s me! It’s me!’ From there it was just pure pandemonium,” Tillman recalled of her conversation with her mother as she realized the ticket was a million dollar winner. Tillman, her husband Chad and their three daughters (ages 14, 6 and 9 months) stopped by Iowa Lottery headquarters in Des Moines today to claim their prize.
The Tillmans’ ticket matched the first five numbers drawn, but missed the Powerball. Tillman said she picked the numbers 6, 13, 32 and 41 based on her family members’ ages at the time and the number 15 because her youngest daughter was due on September 15. “The Powerball, I picked 7 because there are 7 of us including our two Chihuahuas,” Tillman said.
The Powerball ended up being 3. After taxes, the Tillmans will collect $700,000. Mary says they waited to cash in their ticket while they met with a financial advisor. “I know we definitely plan on getting a new vehicle and getting our garage fixed up, which has been leaking for a while now, to put out new vehicle in,” Tillman said. “We plan to invest the rest of it to help our family better itself.”
Mary Tillman is a stay-at-home mom. Her husband, Chad, plans to keep working at his job at a Fareway warehouse in Boone.