Carpenter saved nearly $3 million, funded college for 33 strangers after his death

Schroeder had never had the opportunity to attend college, but he wanted other young people to have that chance (AI enhance image, source: CBS) Dale Schroeder spent 67 years working as a carpenter at the same business in Des Moines, Iowa. He grew up poor, never went to college, never married and had no children. He lived a simple life, owning only two pairs of jeans and an old rusty Chevrolet truck. But over the years, he quietly saved almost $3 million.When Schroeder died in 2005, his savings were used to create a scholarship fund for small-town Iowa students who wanted to attend college but could not afford it. The fund eventually paid for the college education of 33 people.Fourteen years after Schroeder's death, those 33 students came together to remember the man whose money had changed their lives, even though most of them had never met him. They called themselves 'Dale’s kids' and gathered around his old carpenter’s lunch box to talk about the difference he had made in their lives.Schroeder's friend Steve Nielsen remembered him as a “blue-collar, lunch pail kind of guy”. He said Schroeder went to work every day, worked hard and was frugal. That simple lifestyle allowed him to ...