A philanthropist, his foundation and a would-be heir: How a DNA test put charitable givings to Salinas organizations in limbo.

Erik Chalhoub here. Philanthropy is happening all around us, whether we are aware of it or not. Many philanthropists prefer to fly under the radar, quietly donating funds to the betterment of their communities and shunning the spotlight.

For years, Edward Dowd shared the success from his real estate career to benefit students and others in Salinas and Santa Clara through scholarships and other financial means. Dowd died in 2022 after a long battle with multiple sclerosis, and with his death, left untold millions to a foundation with a mission to support education and the arts.

Locally, Dowd was relatively unknown—he graduated from Palma High School in Salinas in 1964 but spent most of his life in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Also flying under the radar was a court case filed in 2022 that recently came to our attention, one that has the making of a reality television show.

In this week’s cover story for the Weekly, I looked into the life and times of Dowd and his burgeoning foundation, which made a big splash recently when it celebrated the grand reopening of Palma School’s gym after donating $2.5 million to its renovation.

But the foundation’s future has been in jeopardy over the past few years—through a DNA test, a man discovered he is Dowd’s son, and through the court, he sought to obtain all of Dowd’s fortune, most of it directed to the foundation.

A significant development in this case happened as I was researching it. As a result, the article has a definite conclusion, which is not always the case due to the ever-evolving nature of the news cycle.