68-year-old cleaning woman wins $294 million

"I'm in disbelief. I can't believe it's me," Geraldine Williams told reporters at lottery headquarters.

Williams cleaned homes after retiring as a custodian at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell.

"She was a wonderful person," said Mary Recko, a worker in the physical plant department at UMass-Lowell. "Everybody liked her. All of us here are so happy that it was her who won."

Friends and family described Williams as a down-to-earth woman who fully intended to keep an appointment to clean a client's home until she was told she had to meet with financial advisers in Boston.

Williams, a mother of three and a grandmother of eight, said she plans to travel.

Williams received a ceremonial check for $294 million Friday at the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission offices.

The $294 million is the highest Mega Millions prize in the game's history, exceeding the previous high of $239 million in February.

The largest single ticket lottery jackpot winner ever in North America was Jack Whitaker, of Scott Depot, West Virginia, who won a Powerball jackpot of $314.9 million on Christmas Day 2002.

The winning Mega Millions ticket was sold at Powers Wine Co. in Lowell. It will pay $11 million a year for 26 years before taxes or a lump sum of $168 million before taxes.

Other states participating in the Mega Millions game are Georgia, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Virginia and Washington.