Great-grandma credits late husband in big Illinois lottery win. ‘A blessing from him’

An Illinois woman briefly forgot about the lottery ticket she had purchased, then had difficulty believing her jackpot win was real.

Pamela Arscott, from Franklin Park, won the top prize in the Illinois Lottery’s $1,000,000 Celebration scratch-off game. She purchased the winning ticket at a Walmart in Addison.

“I didn’t think anything of it. I actually put it in my purse and forgot about it until the next morning,” she told lottery officials in a July 1 news release.

When Arscott began scratching off the ticket, she saw she had matching numbers that meant she was a $1 million winner. She didn’t quite believe it, however.

“I thought it was a mistake. I immediately woke up my daughter. I told her to run out to the store to scan it to double check and make sure it’s real,” Arscott said. “She got to the store, scanned the ticket, called me and said, ‘It’s real. You’re getting a million dollars, Mom.’”

The $1 million jackpot is one of three top prizes offered in the game, in which tickets cost $10. Odds of winning the jackpot are 1-in-1,676,560.

Arscott, who has five children, 10 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, believes her late husband had a role in the big win.

“My husband and I were married for 49 years until he passed away in October,” she said. “He was the breadwinner and took care of all of us. I truly believe this winning ticket is a blessing from him.”

Franklin Park is a northwest suburb of Chicago.

This story was originally published July 1, 2024 at 2:57 PM with the headline "Great-grandma credits late husband in big Illinois lottery win. ‘A blessing from him’."