Great-great-grandma wins $1.2M in Pennsylvania lottery. She plans to buy a lawn mower

Lillian Hess doesn’t rely on her 24 grandchildren or 30 great-grandchildren to mow her lawn. Not her 11 great-great-grandchildren, either.

No, the 83-year-old Pennsylvania woman cuts the grass herself. But thanks to a new lottery win, she’ll at least have a little help in doing so.

“One of the first things I’m going to do is buy a new mower! A riding mower!” said Hess, who was celebrating a $1.2 million win in the Pennsylvania Lottery’s Cash 5 With Quick Cash game.

Hess told lottery officials she has played the jackpot game for years. She usually checks the winning numbers when they are drawn on TV, but she had changed the channel this time.

“After I got my Sunday paper, I saw it. I started screaming for my son to come and double check!” Hess said.

The great-great-grandma plans to pay off her mortgage and give some of the money to her adult kids — and of course buy that lawn mower. She said winning the lottery “was just a lot to take in.”

Charles Fuel & Deli in Lancaster County sold the winning ticket to Hess. The store’s owner, Charles Rutt, said Hess is a longtime customer of the store.

Her winning numbers of 11-12-15-28-35 gave her the game’s jackpot, and she was presented with her check Wednesday.