James Underwood estate given to BP Ed Foundation

Back in March of 2019, former Superintendent Barry Olson, received a call from a law office in California, Mo., indicating that they were handling the Estate of James A. Underwood.
Olson was told that the late Mr. Underwood had left instructions in his estate documents that the remainder of his estate was to be given to the Blooming Prairie School District for the purpose of scholarships for the “needy and deserving” high school graduates for college, technical school or furthering their education.
The law office was informed that the BP Education Foundation handled the financial aspect of many scholarships on behalf of the school district.
The Ed Foundation helps manage the distribution of donated monies because the BPEF is a registered 501©3. 
Contact was made by the BPEF to the law office and it was indicated that once the estate was settled, funds would be issued. This took about a year.
Finally, in March of 2020, the estate was finalized and funds were dispersed. The amount given from the estate to the BPEF for the scholarships was $52,244.
Underwood did not leave any specific instructions for the use of the money other than what was stated above. Therefore, it was decided that Chris Staloch, present superintendent and others in the school district, would be put in charge of setting up criteria for the scholarships to be given out from the funds. 
Scholarships were actually given out this past spring. Recipients were: INSERT SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS
Who exactly was James Underwood and what was his connection to Blooming Prairie High School that would prompt him to give such a generous gift to BPHS students? 
Julie Noble, past president of BP Ed Foundation did some research into Underwood's wishes. 
It appears that James was the son of James A. Underwood, Sr. and Theodora 'Teddy’ Hanson Underwood.
Both James Sr and Teddy were born in the local area. "I know for sure Teddy lived in the Red Oak Grove area," remarked Noble. 
She and James Sr. had a child, Gary, who was born in Austin. She worked at Hormel. But at some point, they must have moved to Montevideo as that is where James, Jr. was born and grew up. 
James Jr. was born in 1942 and graduated from Montevideo High School in 1960. He attended Lincoln University and received an engineering degree. 
At some point, the entire family located in California, Mo., where they owned T & J Distributors. James Sr., Gary and Teddy all passed away before James, who died in 2017. Gary and James were not ever married. 
James must have felt a connection to the area where his parents were born and had relatives in the Blooming Prairie area, which is why he gave the remainder of his estate for scholarships to our BP students.
There are still relatives of James Underwood in the BP area.  The above information shows some of the connections to BP that Noble has found. 
Teddy was a sister to Norma Ryan (deceased) who is the grandmother of Kelli O’Connor, wife of Jim O’Connor. Teddy was the sister to Harold Hanson who is the father of Margie Hanson.
James Underwood Sr. was the first cousin to Dale Underwood of Blooming Prairie. Dale said his cousin was always supportive of supporting his community.
Noble said the BP Ed Foundation is always looking for monies that can be channeled toward educational purposes. "The BP Ed Foundation is a great place to leave estate money," said Noble.