An ISU alum and his wife donated $300,000 to fund a restoration of the Tearoom, a caf‚ in MacKay Hall, in honor of his mother who worked in the Tearoom during the 1950s.

Roger Underwood, a 1980 graduate in agriculture business, and his wife, Connie, donated the money in honor of Roger’s mother, Joan Bice Underwood. Joan Underwood, who graduated in 1952, worked in the Tearoom when she was a student in the home economics department.

The restoration of the Tearoom will return it to the style of the 1920s, when the Tearoom first opened, said Carol Meeks, dean of family and consumer sciences. Any money remaining after the renovation will be used to purchase new china, silverware and decorative accessories for the Tearoom, she said.

Underwood suggested the renovation of the Tearoom to its original 1920s fashion, because he said he wanted to restore the Tearoom to the style present when his mother worked there.

“I’m very traditional, and I wanted to return [the Tearoom] to its traditional roots,” he said.

Underwood said his mother spent a lot of time in the Tearoom, because it was required by the home economics department – and she wanted to earn some pocket money.

“During Veishea, we would always go and get cherry pies,” Underwood said. “I always remembered that, and my mother shared with my brothers and sister what she learned as a home economics major. I thought it was an appropriate way to honor her, and I knew she would be thrilled that it was in her name and her honor.”

Underwood said the renovation of the Tearoom in his mother’s name was a surprise for her. Last spring, Underwood and his wife told his mother he was receiving an award, so she traveled from her home in Atlantic to celebrate. The Underwoods ate lunch in the Tearoom, where people planning the renovation were also eating.

Underwood introduced his mother to the planners and administrators, and they showed her the renovation plans, which stated her name as the new name of the Tearoom, the “Joan Bice Underwood Tearoom.”

The Tearoom kitchen was modernized this summer to kick off the renovation, Meeks said. Wiring, gas piping and the installation of a dishwasher were all completed this summer.

Renovation of the Tearoom will halt during the fall semester and start again during Dead Week in December, when the Tearoom is normally closed, Meeks said. The renovation of the dining area will continue through winter break and be completed before the spring semester begins, she said.

“At this point, there’s a lot of the planning that is going on,” said Janice Dana, coordinator of the hotel restaurant and institution management class that runs the Tearoom. “[Currently] we are making decisions about the dining room and choosing fabrics and paint.”

Underwood said he intends to bring his entire family to the renovated Tearoom for the grand opening, which he said is slated for spring semester. Underwood said of his parents, his siblings, their children, and himself, nine of 10 are Iowa Staters.

“Our family is very loyal to Iowa State,” Underwood said. “I feel that our family name, particularly my mother’s, will live on at Iowa State, especially in an educational standpoint.”