Luverne bachelor farmer leaves $2.9 million to scholarship

By PAUL WALSH and PAMELA MILLER, Star Tribune staff writers

Last update: August 20, 2009 - 7:47 AM

A lifelong bachelor farmer from southwestern Minnesota whose modest lifestyle and prudent investments allowed him to build a $9.3 million estate has left about half of his fortune to nonprofit organizations in Rock County.

The checks were handed out Wednesday at the elementary school in Luverne, Minn., where representatives of Harvey Ordung's estate and the benefactors gathered for a little Christmas in August.

The largest gift -- $2,927,447.93 -- went to the Luverne Dollars for Scholars organization, said Gregg Gropel, Ordung's personal representative and friend of 25 years and a founder of the scholarship program.

Dollars for Scholars grabbed the lion's share of the money, Gropel said, because Ordung "was a bachelor and wanted to help out these young children. He would say today's youth are our nation's leaders tomorrow."

Ordung died Oct. 30, 2007, after spending his final three years at the Mary Jane Brown Nursing Home in Luverne. The home received more than $292,000 from Ordung.

Luverne Mayor Andy Steensma said he got to know Ordung at the nursing home when he would go to visit his mother. "He was very nice, a very kind guy, even before this money gift," Steensma said. "Everyone thought so. And to look at him, you'd think he was rather poor, even -- he never dressed in fancy clothes or anything like that."

Gary Fisher, superintendent of Luverne schools, said Ordung got to know many schoolchildren through the schools' "Adopt a Grandparent" program and that, along with his high regard for education, may have inspired his gift to the scholarship program. "Harvey spent a lot of time in the community and saw the value of education," he said.

The money will "have a major impact" on a program that began in 1994 with a few small scholarships and grew to become one of the nation's largest local scholarship programs. It is likely to benefit every young person in the district who wants to go on to postsecondary education, Fisher said.

That's saying a lot in a district in which more than 80 percent of high school graduates go on to college or to vocational or technical schools, he said.

Frugality and generosity

Ordung was born in 1923 on his family's farm 3 miles west of Luverne and lived there his entire life except for the three years at the nursing home.

Along with his earnings from the farm, Ordung did well in the stock market, in particular with oil company shares, Gropel said.

He "didn't smoke, he didn't drink, and I don't think he ever went on a date," Gropel said. "He never spent much on himself. He bought a 1982 Ford pickup and kept it until his death." A few years later, he got an Oldsmobile, and those were his vehicles for the rest of his driving days.

Elementary school for Ordung was a one-room country schoolhouse, Gropel said. He attended Luverne High School and graduated in 1940. A club foot kept him from serving in World War II.

Playing pool was probably the closest thing Ordung did that anyone might frown upon, Gropel said.

Another beneficiary of his estate was the First Presbyterian Church in Luverne ($58,548.96). Gropel said Ordung once joked that he wanted to give part of his estate to the church because "someone's gotta bury me."

Ordung is buried in Maplewood Cemetery on the west edge of town alongside his parents. His mother died in 1968, his father in 1980.

Harvey Ordung divided the rest of his estate, including the farmland, among friends and relatives. His only sibling, brother Franklin Ordung, lives in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Gropel said he is sure that his friend would be embarrassed if he had been around for today's check ceremony. "He wouldn't want to make it look like he was bragging."

Fisher said Ordung's gift reflects the spirit of the community he loved. "People here are very giving, and eager to give back to the community and schools," he said. "He's a real prime example of that."

pwalsh@startribune.com • 612-673-4482 pmiller@startribune.com • 612-673-4290

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