When Dale Schroeder died, no one would have guessed how wealthy he was or the effect he would have on the lives of more than two dozen strangers.
Schroeder, who never married or had children, worked at the same company for 67 years. He was a humble man who grew up in poverty and never had the means to attend college.
His friend Steve Nielsen told CBS News that Schroeder was a “blue collar, lunch pail kind of guy” who “went to work every day. Worked really hard.” Nielson said that his friend was frugal like many other Iowans.
“He had church jeans and work jeans,” Nielsen said of Schroeder’s simple life.
Given that Schroeder never raised a family, he decided to go to a lawyer with a plan for his fortune, which by the time he did so was in the millions. He wanted to give his money back to other small-town Iowan children who didn’t have the means to attend college.
“He said, ‘I never got the opportunity to go to college. So, I’d like to help kids go to college,’” Nielson recalled. “Finally, I was curious, and I said, ‘How much are we talking about, Dale?’ And he said, ‘Oh, just shy of $3 million.’ I nearly fell out of my chair.”
One of the beneficiaries of the Schroeder’s legacy was Kira Conrad. Conrad, who grew up in a single-parent household with three other siblings, had the grades to attend college but not the means.
Conrad wanted to attend college to become a therapist but said because of the lack of funding, she felt “powerless” in doing so. She said she was overcome with emotion upon learning about Schroeder’s postmortem gift.
“I broke down into tears immediately,” Conrad said.
Schroeder ended up sending 33 strangers to college through his wealth. The group calls itself “Dale’s kids” and held a meetup this month to honor Schroeder’s legacy. According to Nielson, the only thing Schroeder wanted in return for his generosity was for the students to “pay it forward.”
“You can’t pay it back, because Dale is gone, but you can remember him and you can emulate him,” he said.
