Okanagan retiree pockets lottery windfall

A Kelowna resident is making plans for the future after winning the top prize in BC Lotteries’ Set for Life game.

Maureen Lee couldn’t believe it when she found out she won $675,000.

“You’re kidding me, this can’t be real,” Lee recalled of the moment she realized she won. “I was speechless!”

Lee was at home when she found out she won.

“I got into the car with my husband and we drove to the closest gas station to verify that the win was real. He was so shocked,” she said of her husband’s reaction to the prize.

Lee said her emotions at the time were “up and down, just like a roller coaster,” but once it sank in, she and her husband celebrated with a “very nice” bottle of wine.

The retiree and snowbird plans to pay off her mortgage and will gift a portion of her prize to her children.

She likes spending her winters in Arizona and says the windfall will make her retirement even more enjoyable.

Lee bought her ticket at the Save On Foods on Cooper Road in Kelowna.