By Dan Gearino

DES MOINES – A Fort Dodge couple claimed a $200.8 million Powerball jackpot on Wednesday.

Tim and Kellie Guderian got their winning ticket certified at Lottery headquarters and spoke to reporters. The prize is the largest ever won in Iowa.

“What a stroke of luck. Ever since we realized we had the winning ticket, it’s seems like a dream,” said Tim Guderian.

Tim Guderian, 36, a Le Mars native, works as an automotive detailer. He served six years in the U.S. Marine Corps and is a veteran of the first Gulf War.

Kellie Guderian, 44, a Sac City native, works as a sales clerk at Wal-Mart. She met Tim when they were co-workers at the store.

The couple says they plan to keep their jobs. They plan to take a vacation to Australia, pay off debts and donate to Fort Dodge-area charities.

“Winning this amount of money is simply overwhelming,” Kellie Guderian said.

Tim Guderian bought the winning ticket at a Kum & Go store for the Sept. 23 Powerball drawing. The couple learned they had won the next day when they saw the winning numbers in the newspaper.

They stored the ticket in a book on a bedroom shelf while they spent the week hiring a financial planner and a lawyer. They told some family members about it, but did not tell anyone else.

The Guderians have chosen to receive their prize in a lump-sum payment of roughly $96 million, rather than get $200.8 million in payments spread out over 30 years.

After taxes, they will take home about $67 million.

Iowa Lottery President Ed Stanek said week-and-a-half wait for the winners to come forward led to a rash of rumors and speculation. Lottery officials said after the drawing that there was one winner nationwide and the winning ticket had been purchased in Fort Dodge.

“We heard speculation that there were a group of school teachers in Fort Dodge that had won this prize,” Stanek said. “We heard that there was a 70-year-old lady who had won the prize. We heard it was a group of factory workers from Fort Dodge.”

Several people called the Lottery with stories about how they had lost tickets that might be the winner, including a man who said his dog ate his ticket.

Through all the speculation, the Guderians kept quiet, even as their co-workers and acquaintances wondered aloud about the identity of the winner.

“I tried not to say too much,” Tim Guderian said.

Iowa Lottery players have now won six Powerball jackpots. The most recent, and the largest before the Guderians, was Hugh Hawkins of Des Moines, who won a $113.2 million last December.

Dan Gearino can be reached at 515-243-0138 and dan.gearino@lee.net.