Christmas came early for a Sterling Heights man who won $1 million from the Michigan Lottery playing Powerball.

Peter DeLuca, 51, matched the five white balls drawn – 11-14-32-43-65 – in the Oct. 13 drawing to win a $1 million prize. He bought the winning ticket at the Kroger store, located at 43893 Schoenherr Road in Sterling Heights.

“I buy a few tickets here and there when the jackpot gets high,” said DeLuca. “I stuck this ticket in my car and forgot about it until I found it on Wednesday.

“I took the ticket to 7-Eleven to scan it and see if it was winner. When the clerk scanned it, she told me it was more than she could cash so she printed off the numbers from the drawing so I could check the ticket and see how much I’d won. As she read them off to me, I couldn’t believe I was seeing them all on my ticket!”

DeLuca visited Lottery headquarters Thursday to claim the big prize. With his winnings, he’s planning to take a trip to let the big win “sink in,” and then save the remainder for his retirement.

“Winning really hasn’t fully hit home yet, but it does give me some peace of mind to know that I will have this for a more comfortable retirement when I decide to slow down,” DeLuca said.

Powerball plays may be purchased for $2 each at Lottery retailers across the state and online at MichiganLottery.com. A “Power Play” option that multiplies non-jackpot prizes by up to 10 times to a maximum of $2 million may be added to any Powerball play for only $1.

The Powerball drawing takes place at 10:59 p.m. on Wednesday and Saturday and may be watched live online at: http://www.powerball.com. Powerball tickets are sold in 44 states, Washington D.C., U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.