RALEIGH – Dewey Croom, a truckdriver from Marion, said his good luck in winning Tuesday’s $121,790 Cash 5 jackpot means when he retires next year he will no longer have a mortgage.

“It’s just wonderful to win,” said Croom on Thursday. “And it’s for real.”

Croom bought five Quick Pick tickets at the Country Market on Startown Road in Maiden for Tuesday’s drawing and one beat odds of 1 in 575,757 to win the jackpot. After taxes were withheld, he received a check for $84,281.

“Pay my house off and enjoy a little bit of it,” Croom said of his plans.

Ticket sales in lottery games such as Cash 5 make it possible for the Education Lottery to raise more than half a billion a year for education programs in North Carolina. Lottery proceeds will be used this year to help pay salaries of teachers and teacher assistants, for pre-kindergarten programs for at-risk four-year-olds, school construction and repair, and need-based college scholarships and financial aid.

For details on how $13.8 million in lottery funds have made a difference in McDowell County, click on the “Where the Money Goes” tab on the lottery’s website.