Two $1m Powerball winners step forward in Massachusetts, but big jackpot tickets were sold in Arizona and Missouri

By Melissa M. Werthmann, Globe Correspondent

The winning numbers were 5-16-22-23-29 and 6.

Mary K. Gilmore hit every number except the last and came forward this morning to claim her $1 million prize.

Gilmore bought two quick-pick tickets at the Tedeschi Store on Union Street in Rockland, one for her and one for her boss, said state lottery spokeswoman, Beth Bresnahan.

She kept the right one.

The 49-year-old Rockland woman, who works as a mortgage loan officer, opted for the lump sum, which amounted to $700,000 after taxes, Bresnahan said. She plans to use the cash to pay off her family’s mortgage and her children’s student loans, Bresnahan said.

The Tedeschi store will receive a $10,000 commission on the sale, she said.

Jeremy R. Stephenson, 42 a software consultant for a company that has a state contract, also won $1 million, purchasing a ticket at the City Convenience Store at 23 Beacon St. near the State House in downtown Boston, Bresnahan said.

Stephenson, of Arab, Ala., told lottery officials he will use the $700,000 to pay bills and help out his mom, Bresnahan said.

Gilmore and Stephenson are two of the four $1 million winners in Massachusetts. The other two have not yet come forward.

“They came one number shy of winning the jackpot,” Bresnahan said. “They hit everything but the Powerball.”

The other two tickets were sold at the 7-Eleven store at 1306 Washington St. in the South End and the Galaxy Newsstand on Southbridge Street in Auburn, Bresnahan said.

Al Lishman has been district manager of City Convenience for a decade and was excited to hear a lucky ticket was bought from his shop.

“I think it’s great,” Lishman said. “It’s great for our customer, great for everyone.”

The same store sold a million-dollar scratch ticket two years ago, he said.

“You can call us the lucky store, I guess,” Lishman said.

The district manager hoped to win the jackpot himself and bought a ticket at a different location than the Beacon Street store.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t win,” he said.

The two grand prize tickets were sold in Missouri and Arizona, Bresnahan said. The winning ticket holders will split the final jackpot, which ended up at $587,500,000, or a $384,747,857.92 cash option.

There were 58 $1 million winners nationwide, including the four in Massachusetts. Two $1 million tickets were sold in Connecticut, eight in New Jersey, and four in New York.

Eight winners, including one in Connecticut, have tickets worth $2 million because they matched five out of six numbers but paid an extra dollar for the prize increase, she said.

Sixteen tickets sold in Massachusetts are worth $10,000 each because they matched four numbers and the Powerball, Bresnahan said.

More than 297,000 tickets sold in the state carry winning prizes from $4 to $100, totaling $1,772,700, she said.

Nationwide sales for the 16 total drawings in this Powerball run totaled more than $1.2 billion between Oct. 3 and Nov. 28, she said.

Massachusetts sold $38.5 million in tickets during that time, generating $16.1 million in net profit for the state, all of which is returned to the state’s General Fund in unrestricted local aid for cities and towns, Bresnahan said.

As word spread about the record-high jackpot, the top prize grew by $162.5 million in the days before the drawing. Bay State retailers were selling nearly $23,000 in ticket sales a minute Wednesday night, Bresnahan said.

State retailers will get more than $2 million in commissions from the sale of Powerball tickets.

All those who missed out on the big win can try their luck again. The Powerball’s top prize for Saturday, Dec. 1 has been reset to $40 million, she said.