Marie Ann Donovan helped make Memorial Day a day to remember for eight sailors from Naval Station Great Lakes by buying them the winning ticket worth $6,675 in the Chicago Cubs Charities’ 50/50 raffle during Monday’s game at Wrigley Field.

Donovan, an associate professor at the College of Education at DePaul University, whose late father trained at Great Lakes to become a Navy pilot in the Pacific during World War II, said she wanted to show her appreciation to the sailors seated near her and her family at Monday’s game. When the winning number for the raffle was flashed on the scoreboard during the eighth inning, Donovan tapped one of the sailors on the shoulder and reminded him to check the ticket she’d given him.  When they looked at it, she spotted the number first—and then it took a while to convince him that it was for real—he and his mates had won.

Donovan, her husband, Cas Psujek, and their daughter Shiloh, along with the sailors reported to Fan Services where the sailors insisted that Donovan get half the share of the winnings. “I said, ‘No, that’s yours. I want you to have it,’ ‘’said Donovan. “When they told me they would give the half they wanted to give me to the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, I started to cry. The organization does so much to help the Navy and Marine Corps families, many in great need.”

Even after their generous donation, the sailors each got to pocket $417 in winnings. Donovan suspects that her father may have had a hand in picking the winning ticket. “I’m sure he was pulling for us in heaven.”