Dale Schroeder was a simple man. He lived a quiet life and kept to himself. He grew up poor and he never married nor did he have any children of his own.

But Dale had a big heart. So big in fact, there was plenty to go around.

Dale worked as a carpenter for the same business in his beloved Iowa for 67 years. He worked hard and was frugal with his money. Never living above his means, he toted a lunch pail to work every day. He was a simple man.

But for all of his simplicity, Dale had a secret. Something he had kept to himself for years but before he passed, had decided to let another individual in on it.

Steve Nielsen, Dale’s attorney and friend, spoke with KCCI about the kind of guy Dale was.

“He was very quiet. Dale was shy.”

He went on to say he was a “blue-collared” kind of guy who only owned two pairs of jeans.

“He had church jeans and work jeans.”

But one day, Dale wandered into Nielsen’s office wanting to discuss his will.

“I never got the opportunity to go to college so I’d like to help kids go to college.”

It was a kind gesture but one had to wonder how he planned on doing so.

After more discussion, Nielsen asked Dale how much money he had saved up and wanted to donate.

“Oh, just shy of $3 million,” Dale said.

“I nearly fell out of my chair,” Nielsen revealed.

Dale didn’t have any living relatives to fight over his fortune so it didn’t take much to put things into motion.

He left behind his millions and his old, rusty Chevy truck.

His instructions were simple, send small-town Iowa kids to college.

“He wanted to help kids that were like him, that probably wouldn’t have the opportunity to go to college.”

Dale passed in 2005 but his extremely generous donation has since sent 33 kids from small Iowa towns to college.

One of those young people was Kira Conard.

Conard comes from a single-parent home with three older sisters. She knew that there was no way that she would be able to afford college.

Thus, she prepared to break the news to her friends at her high school graduation party.

“(It) almost made me feel powerless. I want to do this, I have this goal, but I can’t get there, just because of the financial part,” she said.

She had given up hope. But just in the knick of time, her phone rang and on the other end was none other than Steve Nielsen.

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

Oh, but it did and for 32 other Iowans just like her.

Recently, all of the 33 young people that Dale’s donation sent to college gathered together around his old lunch pail for a meal of their own.

To honor Dale and his legacy, they shared stories of how even though they had never met Dale, he changed the course of their lives for the better.

Doctors, therapists, and teachers filled the room.

Though Dale didn’t have any children of his own, the 33 students he sent to college refer to themselves as “Dale’s Kids.”

The only thing Dale asked of each of them is to pay it forward. Not financially, but by doing good onto others.

“You can remember him and you can emulate him,” Nielsen said.

What a beautiful contribution to his community!

You can watch his story in the video below!

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Sources: KCCI, Shareably