Million-Dollar PA Lottery Winner Feels Bittersweet After Spouse Dies

ARMSTRONG COUNTY, PA — Karen Coffman termed her experience "bittersweet."

Pennsylvania Lottery officials gathered at the BP gas station on Buffalo Street in Freeport Thursday to present her with a commemorative check after she won a $1 million scratch-off ticket in the lottery's 1,000,000 game.

But Coffman's jubilation on over winning soon turned to despair.

“My husband had a brain tumor and died two weeks after I won,” said Coffman, 61, of Armstrong County. She spoke with reporters following the check presentation.

Her husband's untimely death sparked a sadness that was in stark contrast to what she felt when she scanned her ticket at the store and realized she hit the jackpot.

“I thought, ‘This can’t be right!’ The guy working there said, ‘What’s wrong?’ I said, ‘Look!’ He starts counting the zeroes and we then just started jumping up and down, hugging.," Coffman said. "When I got home, I was shaking."

Coffman, recently retired from her job as a chef at a nursing home, has bought a significant winning lottery ticket in the past.

“About 14 years ago, I won $65,000 on a scratch-off ticket that I purchased at the same location," she said.

As for her plans now, Coffman said she plans to invest part of the prize. She's considering relocating to Florida to be closer to family and away from winter weather.

“I’m so done with the snow," she said.