$7.2 million Lotto prize won't retire office manager

Thursday, September 21, 2006 posted 11:14 AM EDT

OLYMPIA — The winner of Saturday night's $7.2 million Washington Lotto jackpot was a 63-year-old woman from Ridgefield, Clark County.

Donna Jean Boone, an office manager for a general contractor in Kalama, said she discovered her good fortune Sunday and called her boss to tell him about her bonanza. She left a message on his voice mail.

Boone said she isn't retiring because she wouldn't know what to do with her time. And she feels loyal to her boss.

"I just can't walk out and leave him," Boone told a Tuesday news conference at the Vancouver office of the Washington lottery.

Boone said she has worked for the company for 16 years and considers her boss to be part of her family.

She said she was on vacation for a week at Ocean Park, Pacific County, when she bought the ticket at Okie's Sentry Market.

She said she became so excited when she realized she had won that she began screaming and shaking while she was at a local Eagles lodge with a friend. A nearby nurse checked her pulse and made her sit down.

Boone said she plans to pay off debts, take care of family and set up a college fund for a grandchild.

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