William “Bill” Zak of Dysart pictured with his $1 million prize check at the Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive on Friday, Dec. 26, 2025. PHOTO COURTESY OF BILL ZAK

DYSART – William “Bil” Zak made what he thought would be a simple stop for coffee and a quick check of his lottery tickets at a gas station in Vinton on the morning of Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, while on his way to a pheasant hunt.

He ended up leaving the store $1,000,004 richer.

“I actually used one of the auto-check machines. The first time I checked was on Saturday and a message appeared stating the drawing didn’t happen yet,” Zak, a resident of Dysart, said in a recent email exchange with the newspaper after news broke he had purchased a Powerball ticket worth $1 million at Kwik Star in Vinton ahead of the Saturday, Dec. 20, drawing. “I didn’t think anything of it and put it back in my wallet. The following morning, I was leaving to go pheasant hunting and stopped for a cup of coffee. I purchased the coffee and decided to self-check again. I saw the words ‘Congratulations’ [on the screen followed by] the number one and then a zero and a number more [zeros]! It took a couple looks because the extra $4 at the end threw me off.

“I never made it hunting.”

Zak – a Michigan native who teaches industrial technology at Center Point-Urbana High School while living with his wife and two children in Dysart – matched the first five (white) numbers (4-5-28-52-69) of the $1.434 billion jackpot drawn on the evening of Dec. 20, missing only the (red) Powerball. Ironically, an additional ticket he purchased matched just the Powerball (20), giving him the extra $4 win.

The Iowa Lottery’s main office in Clive where Zak, an industrial tech teacher at Center Point-Urbana High School, traveled last Friday to claim his $1 million Powerball prize. Zak purchased the winning ticket at Kwik Star in Vinton ahead of the Saturday, Dec. 20, drawing. FILE PHOTO COURTESY OF THE IOWA LOTTERY

According to the Iowa Lottery, Zak’s ticket was one of eight from across the country to win $1 million in the drawing that evening; no ticket contained all six winning numbers and the jackpot rolled on into the following Monday and then Wednesday (Christmas Eve) before a single winning ticket was finally drawn (in Arkansas) for what grew into the second-largest lottery prize in U.S. history.

When asked if there was any special meaning behind his five winning numbers, Zak said it was all random.

“Unfortunately there is not any great significance to the numbers,” he explained. “I just asked for two Quick Picks.”

Zak also told the newspaper he doesn’t play the lottery with any regularity, but when the jackpot starts to creep into frenzy territory (the jackpot on Dec. 20 was estimated at $1.5 billion), he’ll sometimes purchase a ticket in memory of his late father.

“There was not any specific reason that I purchased the ticket from the Kwik [Star], I just happened to remember the lottery prize was growing. I normally don’t play but if I see that the prize size is making the news, then I’ll pick up a ticket or two. My father recently passed away and he was always buying tickets or going to the casino. He never won anything this large but he was definitely on my mind when I made the purchase.”

After keeping mostly mum on the news he had won through the Christmas holiday, Zak made his way to the Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive on Friday, Dec. 26, to claim his prize – any prize greater than $250,000 must be claimed in person at the Lottery’s main office. And while in theory he later left Clive a figurative “millionaire,” the IRS makes that not quite the case.

“I wish I could say I was a millionaire but with all the taxes taken I can’t. … When we [claimed] the ticket on Friday the lotto office told us to expect owing more federal taxes in April. Since we really don’t know what the final amount will be, we are being boring and just paying bills and investing. We may try to plan a trip for our 25th wedding anniversary,” Zak said.

But just because he’s not an outright millionaire, doesn’t mean he’s not exceedingly thankful for the unexpected windfall.

“I guess I’m a [glass-half-full] type. We are very grateful and hope to make it last as long as possible. Like I said before, we are just paying off a few bills. However, [soon] we will be meeting with a financial manager for ideas on how to make this grow. We would like to be in a position where we could help our siblings and aging parents if needed.”

After the Iowa Lottery announced on Monday, Dec. 22, that two tickets just one number off from the jackpot had been sold ahead of the Dec. 20 drawing – including a ticket worth $150,000 in Johnston – chatter regarding who the new millionaire might be began to buzz in and around Tama and Benton counties. On Monday, Dec. 22, and Tuesday, Dec. 23, Zak headed to work at CPU High School as usual, keeping his newfound wealth under wraps. But after claiming his prize Friday following Christmas, the Iowa Lottery released his name as the winner. The response from those he’s encountered since has been wonderful, Zak said.

“Our family and friends have been very excited for us. As for my (CPU) colleagues and students, because I waited until our winter break began, I didn’t tell anyone. It was a long two days before we went to winter break. I knew it would eventually get out so haven’t made any broad announcements. I’m sure it will come up when I return to work. After we began seeing it on television I told a few more people.”

Local folks in Dysart have expressed happiness for the Zaks as well, including KE Black Mercantile’s Rene Ternus who told the newspaper the lottery win couldn’t have happened to nicer people.

“They are just always so polite and very down to earth,” Ternus said. “I was so happy to hear they were the winners!”

For now, Zak said he and his family plan to continue with their jobs and schooling (Zak and his wife still have one child attending Union) while remaining in Dysart. But in the future, they would like to return to The Mitten State.

“Our goal is to move back to Michigan but that will not be for at least another year. We don’t have plans to move right away.”