Parks Township woman wins $1.5M from scratch-off lottery ticket

Rita Franczyk became a millionaire in less than five minutes.

Franczyk was presented with a commemorative check for $1.5 million from the Pennsylvania Lottery on Thursday afternoon after winning the money from a scratch-off ticket this month.

Franczyk, 86, of Parks Township bought the ticket, like she occasionally does when she visits the Giant Eagle in Allegheny Township.

She calls her visits to the grocery store her “social time.”

A couple of weeks ago, Franczyk stopped at the lottery counter and chatted with the clerk while she waited to buy her usual $10 scratch-off tickets, or, as she likes to call them, her “little treat.”

The clerk showed Franczyk a new scratch-off game the store started stocking.

This one was a $30 Super Star Scratch-Off.

“I said, ‘whoa,’” Franczyk said about the price. “I usually buy, like, two $10 ones or something.”

She decided to take the chance and won $50. She used a portion of those winnings to buy a second ticket a few days later when she was back at the store.

“When I scratched it, I said, ‘What? No!’ and I took it to (the clerk) right away,” Franczyk said. “She said, ‘Rita, you won $1.5 million!’ She had a tear; I had a tear. We were stunned.”

Franczyk being a regular in the store was made obvious during the commemorative check ceremony. Employees of the Giant Eagle yelled their congratulations to her as they passed by the event held in the store. Some stopped to give her a hug.

“I’m grateful, and I’m thankful to everybody involved, and thank you, God,” Franczyk said.

Franczyk called her daughter right away after her win. She told her she was a millionaire, and she didn’t know how it happened.

“I drove home,” she said. “And I drove home beautifully. It’s a wonder I wasn’t (swerving) all over the place.”

Franczyk’s daughter, Maryann Cecchi, was happy for her mom.

“I’m very happy that she’ll feel secure now,” Cecchi said.

Franczyk has three grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. They’re Franczyk’s world, Cecchi said.

Before Franczyk’s husband, Henry, died in 2020, the couple lived in a one-floor apartment that helped their mobility after moving from their two-story home.

After her husband’s death, the apartment flooded due to burst pipes in the unit above them.

“I lost everything,” she said.

Franczyk has been living with her daughter and son-in-law since. The money gives her an opportunity to buy a home that fits her mobility needs.

“I would like to make a new residence for, possibly (Cecchi) and her husband and me, if they’d like to come,” Franczyk said. “I’d like to buy a ranch-type, small, average home and move. That’s what my little dream is.”

Despite already winning big, Franczyk plans to keep playing scratch-off games. It’s a tradition she upholds for the joy of the game.

“I don’t buy the tickets to win,” she said.