The family of Louise Proctor Kidwell made a contribution to Edgecombe Community College to support an H&R Block scholarship.

Proctor Kidwell, who made the donation in memory of his mother, Louise Proctor Kidwell, owns and operates H&R Block franchises in Williamston, Tarboro, Murfreesboro and Ahoskie. His brother, Keith, owns and operates offices in Washington and Chocowinity.

Louise Proctor Kidwell was born in Aberdeen, Md. She attended Mount St. Agnes High School in Baltimore and then night school at McCoy College, a division of Johns Hopkins University, which did not accept women at the time. She applied for work with the FBI but received a rejection letter from J. Edgar Hoover informing her that it was not FBI policy to hire women.

Before moving to Washington, N.C., Louise Proctor Kidwell lived in New Jersey, where she raised her children and worked for 17 years in New York City as an accountant for Van Riper Schmitt & Co. In January 1969, she began working for H&R Block in Rutherford, N.J., and in 1974, she successfully passed the Internal Revenue Service Enrolled Agent Exam.

In September 1979, Louise Proctor Kidwell purchased the Washington H&R Block franchise and established what would become LPK Accounting Service Inc.