Joan Bice Underwood

Our Mother was creative, intelligent, innovative, caring, giving, loyal, strong, supportive and unselfish. She was a leader, a friend, a teacher, a volunteer, a gardener, a quilter, a historian, a role model, a sister, a wife, a mother, a grandmother and a great-grandmother. 

We will always be BLESSED to call this beautiful woman “MOM.”

With Much Love, 

Mark and Diana Underwood
Judy and Mike Maubach

Roger and Connie Underwood
Jeff and Rachelle Underwood

We are proud to honor our mother Joan Underwood with a brick in the Plaza of Heroines.  She and our father Ray Underwood, both now deceased, lived most of their lives in Atlantic, Iowa. Mom was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on January 12, 1931 and lived there until 1948 when she enrolled at Iowa State University. Dad arrived at ISU from Ringsted, Iowa where he was born on May 4, 1930. After their graduations from Iowa State University and their marriage in 1952, they spent two years at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri where Dad served our country for two years during the Korean Conflict. They moved to Atlantic in 1961, where Dad spent his career as an executive for Walnut Grove Feed Products. Their loyalty and respect for Iowa State University was displayed to us while growing up as Cyclone fans. We each graduated from Iowa State and two of us are married to ISU graduates. Mother and Dad have 14 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren. Seven of their grandchildren are Iowa State alums and one grandchild is now an ISU student.

Enjoy a visit to the Joan (Bice) Underwood Tea Room in McKay Hall when you are on the Iowa State campus. Mother was a Home Economics Education student at Iowa State and took classes in the Tea Room lab while she was a student.  The Tea Room was fully renovated in 2002, including state-of-the-art restaurant equipment and a new dining room.  It was renamed the Joan Bice Underwood Tea Room in her honor.

The following family list includes the identification of our 20 Iowa State University grads:

Joan Acelia (Bice) Underwood BS Home Economics Education ’52  Deceased March 29, 2013
Raymond Roger Underwood BS Agricultural Education '52 Deceased November 6, 2013

Son: Mark Alan Underwood BA S&H '81 (JLMC) and Diana Lynn (Dumler) Underwood
Children: Jacob, Aaron & Rachel Underwood BA LAS '09 (German), and Andrew Hale.

Daughter: Judy Kaye (Underwood) Maubach BS S&H '78 (Marketing) and Michael John Maubach BS AG '79 (Ag Business).
Children: Jenna (Maubach) Lain BS AG '07 (Ag Business) and BS AG '07 (International Ag); and Justin Lain BS AG '07 (Animal Science); Michelle (Maubach) Rupp BS HS '09 (Kinesiology & Health) and Chris Rupp; Lisa (Maubach) Niess BS BUS '11 (Marketing) and Cody Niess BS AG '13 (Ag Business) and BS AG '13 (Ag Economics); and John Maubach, freshman at ISU.
Grandchildren: Tucker & Brantley Lain.

Son: Roger Carl Underwood BS AG '80 (Ag Business) and Connie JoAnn (Prohaska) Underwood BA S&H '84 (Political Science).
Children: Andrew and William Underwood BS AG '13 (Forestry).

Son: Jeff Martin Underwood BS ENGR '94 (Chem E) and Rachelle Diane (Meyer) Underwood.
Children: Tori and Shane O'Connell, Brooke and Joseph Tyler, Ryan Elphic, and Macy Underwood a Junior at ISU.
Grandchildren: Anna, Emma, and Ellie O'Connell; Alexander, Elliott, Isaac, and Olivia Tyler

Submitted on 12/27/94; updated 9/21/26