Not all heroes wear capes. In a final act here on earth, a simple, blue-collar carpenter from Iowa donated his entire life savings to pay the way for 33 students struggling to pay for college.

This beautiful and generous act paved the way for the future of so many while also surprising those who knew him most. Dale Schroeder wasn’t the most complicated of men.

Working at the same carpentry company for 67 years, never marrying, and not going to college, Dale was the face of the hardworking midwestern man.

Dale was married to his work. It was a simple and honest way of life.

Dale never had an eye for the flashy, either. Owning a pair of church jeans, a pair of work jeans, and an old Chevy truck, he understood what it meant to live a frugal life.

There was a secret that this frugal life allowed, however. Privately, Dale had saved a massive sum of money. Over the years, he ended up accumulating over three million dollars!

“I nearly fell out of my chair!” said Dale’s friend, Steve Nielson. [KCCI]

Often there is family fallout and attempts to manipulate others for inheritance money. This can especially happen in cases where the sum of money is so large.

Having no relatives around, Dale was able to give the entirety of his fortune to a scholarship fund.

“I never got the opportunity to go to college and so I would like to help kids go to college”

One of Dale’s hopes was that he could provide something he never had… a college degree. Like many labor jobs, Dale worked without ever graduating college. He wanted to use his money to provide what he didn’t, to his community.

Kira Conard is one of the students who received a scholarship from Dale.

“I can’t get there because of the financial part”, Kira expressed, as she detailed her plan to tell her family how college was no longer an option for her.

That’s when a call arrived. They explained how she was being given a scholarship on behalf of a man named Dale Schroeder.

“For a man that would never meet me, to give me…a full ride to college…That doesn’t happen.”

The incredibly thankful students now lovingly refer to themselves as “Dale’s Kids”.

In a recent gathering of all those affected by Dale’s selflessness, they talked about how his gift had changed their lives. The centerpiece of the room? Dale’s old lunchbox.

Never meeting the man, the group of people was still astounded at the character shown by such an act. Through Dale, many of these students can experience something that seemed financially impossible.

One of Dale’s last wishes was that the students receiving the scholarship pay the generosity forward in spirit. It is in this generous spirit that Dale lives on in each of the lives he impacted.

“Dale’s kids” got a shot at life because of his sacrifice, and that’s something worth remembering.

Watch more in the video below.

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Source: KCCI