Dale Schroeder never married or had kids of his own, but he left a legacy behind that’s helped dozens of young people. After working for 67 years as a carpenter at the same business in Des Moines, Iowa, Schroeder had nearly $3-million in savings and he used it all to start a college scholarship for strangers.
Before he died in 2005, Schoreder got help from his friend, lawyer Steve Nielsen, to start the fund. He told Nielsen that he didn’t have the chance to go to college himself, but he wanted to help others get their education. After living frugally all his life, his savings have now paid for 33 students in Iowa to go to college.
Kira Conrad is the last of “Dale’s Kids” to benefit from his scholarship and she doesn’t take the life-changing gift for granted. “For a man that would never meet me to give me basically a full ride to college, that’s incredible,” she says. “That doesn’t happen.”