A Guy Used His Life Savings to Send 33 Strangers to College
By Hope Bidegainberry on July 19, 2019
A guy in Iowa named Dale Schroeder worked as a carpenter for 67 years and never made much money. But he never had kids, and never spent very much on himself.
He was so frugal that his friends say he only had two pairs of jeans . . . work jeans, and church jeans. But he was also a very generous guy.
We’re talking about him in the past tense, because he died in 2005. But he’s in the news now, because over 30 people he never met just got together to pay tribute to him.
Before Dale passed away, he told his buddy who’s a lawyer that he wanted to do something good with his life savings. So his friend asked how much he had . . . and it was just under THREE MILLION DOLLARS.
One thing Dale always wished he’d done was go to college, but he couldn’t afford to when he was young.
So they used the money to set up a scholarship fund for OTHER kids who couldn’t afford tuition. And he ended up paying for 33 total strangers to get a college education.
They call themselves “Dale’s Kids,” and ALL 33 of them just got together this past Saturday to share stories, and talk about how he’s totally transformed their lives.
Dale’s lawyer friend says the only thing he wanted was for them to pay it forward someday, and be generous with someone else.