Dale Schroeder—who worked at the same construction company for 67 years—stipulated that his nearly $3 million in savings be used to send small town Iowa kids to college.
Iowa man used secret millions to send 33 strangers to college
Dale Schroeder was a “blue collar, lunch pail kind of guy” from Iowa, who ended up changing the lives of 33 people forever. Schroeder worked as a carpenter at the same construction company for 67 years. He grew up poor and had no wife or children of his own. Unbeknown to friends and colleagues, Schroeder had saved up a fortune over the years. He had no living descendants, so before he died, he went to his lawyer with a plan for his money. Schroeder’s secret fortune, so generously gifted, ended up paying for 33 strangers’ college tuitions, many of whom went on to become doctors and educators.
“Dale’s Kids,” as the recipients call themselves, will never forget the shy carpenter
Dale Schroeder lived simply for his entire life. He grew up poor, never married or had kids, and worked as a carpenter at the same company for 67 years. He owned just two pair of jeans and drove a rusty old Chevrolet truck.
Shortly before his death in 2005, Schroeder told his attorney, Steve Nielsen, that he wanted to use his savings to help poor students in Iowa go to college.
"I said, ‘How much are we talking about, Dale?’" Nielsen told KCCI. "And he said, ‘Oh, just shy of $3 million.’ I nearly fell out of my chair."
Over the course of 14 years, Schroeder’s money has sent 33 young Iowans to college. Last year, they gathered around his old lunch box to talk about a man they never met and how his generosity changed their lives. "He wanted to help kids that were like him," Nielsen said, "that probably wouldn’t have an opportunity to go to college but for his gift."
One of those kids was Kira Conrad.
"I grew up in a single parent household and I had three older sisters, so paying for all four of us was never an option," Conrad told KCCI. "[It] almost made me feel powerless, like, ‘I want to do this, I have this goal but I can’t get there just because of the financial part.’"
Conrad remembers getting the call from Nielsen that her $80,000 tuition bill would be covered by Schroeder’s scholarship. "I broke down into tears immediately," she recalls. "For a man that would never meet me, to give me basically a full ride to college, that’s incredible. That doesn’t happen."
Schroeder’s account has just finally run dry but "Dale’s Kids," as the recipients call themselves, will remember that shy carpenter for the rest of their lives. And they’ve gone on to benefit a variety of fields: Conrad is a therapist. Other have become doctors and educators.
There is one small catch, though.
"All we ask is that you pay it forward," Nielsen says. "You can’t pay it back, because Dale’s gone. But you can remember him and you can emulate him."
Source: Newsweek
BE LIKE DALE: 3 WAYS TO PAY IT FORWARD
The world can sometimes seem like an unfriendly, threatening place. But by recognising acts of kindness and doing something kind for someone else, you can kick-start a chain reaction of generosity and thoughtful behavior, brightening the mood of friends, neighbors, and strangers alike. Paying it forward in this way will feel good and make someone else feel good, too.