Leechburg woman whose husband recently died wins $1M from scratch-off lottery ticket

Charity Stivason has to wonder if her late husband pulled some strings.

The 48-year-old from Leechburg recently won $1 million off a $20 scratch-off lottery ticket she got at a local grocery store.

“I still can’t feel like it’s real,” Stivason told the Tribune-Review. “I’ve always thought, ‘Do these even exist?’ I’ve heard of people winning $250,000. But I never heard of anybody winning that kind of money.”

Stivason bought the winning “Magnificent Millions” ticket April 29 at Leechburg’s Sprankle’s Neighborhood Market.

The Pennsylvania Lottery confirmed the sale of the ticket last week. The game offers top prizes of $1 million.

Sprankle’s will receive $5,000 for selling the winning ticket.

Stivason was on her way to work when she stopped by the store to buy a lottery ticket. She used the $40 prize she received from another “Magnificent Millions” ticket to buy what ended up being the winning ticket.

She drove to work and scratched off the ticket while she was still in her car.

When she saw she won, she immediately went back to Sprankle’s.

“The girl behind the counter was like, ‘I don’t even know what to do with this,’ ” Stivason said.

Stivason regularly buys lottery tickets at the store and jokes with the employees about winning it big.

When someone asks her, “Is there anything else I can help you with?” she usually responds with, “How about a million dollars?”

“I told them after I got the ticket, ‘At least one of you listened to me. I’ve been more than patient,’ ” Stivason said.

Sprankle’s assistant manager Karen Kalmar helped Stivason fill out the paperwork to claim the prize. She said Stivason is always very pleasant.

“Everybody at the store was very excited that we had that big a winner,” Kalmar said. “Charity was so excited to have the ticket in her hand.”

Kalmar said the store has never had a scratch-off winner that high. The store did have a $250,000 scratch-off winner about 20 years ago.

“It’s been a while,” Kalmar said.

Stivason said the win is life-changing. It provides some comfort following the death of her husband, Travis Stivason, who died unexpectedly from a brain aneurysm Oct. 29. He was 47.

“Your life is turned upside down in the blink of an eye,” Stivason said.

Stivason said their daughter believes he had something to do with the winning ticket. This year would have been their 25th wedding anniversary.

“That was a big blessing in an otherwise terrible six months,” Stivason said. “Sometimes I think, ‘Did you do something for me?’ I don’t know. He always said he’d always take care of me.”

Despite the win, Stivason said she has no plans to retire. She’s a direct-care worker who assists people with disabilities.

“I help them with job employment, keeping jobs and maintaining their jobs,” Stivason said.

Stivason doesn’t plan to do anything too big with her winnings. Maybe take her grandchildren to Walt Disney World, she said.

“I just want to fix my house and have enough money to where I don’t have to eat cat food when I’m old,” she said.