by Jonathan Bullington
Tribune reporter
11:46 a.m. CDT, May 8, 2014

A Chicago man is planning a special Mother's Day for his mom after she bought a lottery ticket for him that wound up being worth $2.5 million.

Daniel Stojak, 46, of Chicago, said his mother Shirley Stojak, 77, also of Chicago, frequently buys him tickets at the Jewel-Osco in Niles where she has worked as a cashier for 15 years.

Though Shirley Stojak had won some money before playing the lottery – the most was $10,000 – this April 1 was special.


That day, she bought a $10 instant ticket and scratched it off to reveal her son had won $2.5 million.

"The whole body started to go," she said. "I couldn't stop shaking. I always dreamed it could happen, but I never thought it would happen to me."

Stojak called her son, who was coming to pick her up from work at Jewel, to give him the news.

Daniel Stojak said at first, he thought she was playing an April Fool's Day joke on him. Once it sank in, he said, he also was unnerved.

"I was a little shocked," he said. "I didn't sleep for a few days."

Daniel Stojak, who works as a project manager for a home restoration company in Lincolnwood, said his plans for the money include going on vacation, doing some home repairs and maybe getting a new car.

And, of course, planning a Mother's Day to remember.

"She's making a list, I'm sure," he said.

Daniel Stojak said he originally planned to take his mom to a riverboat to go gamble. That's still the Mother's Day plan, though the plan now also includes dinner and a diamond tennis bracelet.

"Anything I want," she said.

He chose the cash option of $1.5 million, which is before taxes are withheld. The Jewel-Osco store got a $25,000 bonus for selling the ticket.

Daniel Stojak said he offered to pay for his mom to retire.

"I told her she could quit working," he said, but "I don't think she wants to."

Shirley Stojak says, now, everyone wants her to buy tickets for them.

"She wanted to buy a ticket this morning," her son said.

jbullington@tribune.com | Twitter: @jbtribune

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Not for long.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

She'll be in a slightly larger bed in the home next year, so that's nice.

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

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He'll put her in a home where they only throw warm water on you instead of cold in the middle of the night.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Would you stop working if you had $1.5M? That doesn't seem like enough to call it quits to me.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

No

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Elections have consequences.

'nuff for me BUT I'm sure I have 20 years on you.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

I would with 1.5 million. I don't need much.

I guess it depends on your age. At 32 and considering my family history I will likely have another 60 to 70 years to live.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

She bought him the ticket AND scratched it off for him?

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She really loves him. A lot of mom's would have said "MINE" after the scratch off.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

A woman whose happy with her son taking her to pull slots on mother's day is not one who needs a lot of money in life.

not to stereotype but Polish (most likely immigrant) from Niles who still works at 77 most likely lies on a mattress with $1 million stuffed in it

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.