Man Honors Late Wife With Lottery Numbers, Wins $1M

WADSWORTH, IL — A man who bought a winning lottery ticket from a gas station in Wadsworth said he was honoring his late wife in the numbers he picked for the Lotto Million 1 game.

The man, along with his adult children, split the cost of a Lotto ticket, which was purchased in May from a BP gas station in Wadsworth. The winning ticket matched all six numbers in the Lotto Million 1 drawing to score the $1 million jackpot prize, according to a news release from the Illinois Lottery.

The winning numbers were: 2-8-10-18-22-28.

The family, who wanted to stay anonymous, told the Illinois lottery they play the same numbers in various Lottery games from time to time. The numbers are "near and dear" to their hearts, the daughter said.

“Since our mom passed away, we include numbers related to her that hold significant meaning for all of us," she said.

The daughter said she learned a winning ticket had sold nearby in a news story.

"So when my dad called me that night and said ‘I have big news - guess what?’ I rained on his parade when I said ‘We won a million dollars?’ He hadn’t seen the article yet,” the daughter laughed. “Everyone is really excited, but nobody is more excited than my dad!”