Dale Schroeder (April 8, 1919 – April 12, 2005)[1] was an American carpenter from Iowa. He spent 67 years working for the same company and lived an extremely frugal life, owning only two pairs of blue jeans: one for work and one for attending church on Sundays. He never married or had children and had amassed $3 million in life savings by the time of his death at the age of 86, which he arranged to be used for the college education of 33 Iowans because he grew up poor and wanted to help people like himself attend college.[2][3] His generosity allowed 33 beneficiaries, many of whom became doctors and teachers, to graduate from college without debt. The final beneficiary received the remaining $80,000 and graduated as a therapist in 2019.[3] The 33 beneficiaries have since formed a group they refer to as "Dale's kids".[3]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Dale D Schroeder in Social Security Death Index".
- ^ Hanson, Eric (18 July 2019). "Iowan's wish puts 33 strangers through college". KCCI Television. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
- ^ a b c Prior, Ryan (19 July 2019). "A carpenter saved his whole life to fund college scholarships and helped 33 strangers go to school for free". CNN. Retrieved 20 July 2019.