Photos: Steve Schroeder
Octogenarian Steve Schroeder proves serving your community is a mission for all ages.
Since the moment Steve Schroeder and his family moved to the River Falls, Wisconsin-area in 1989, he’s been getting involved and giving back in the community—as president of the Iola-Scandinavia School District board and member of three local Rotary clubs, in his work as an actuary, in his volunteering and in his fundraising efforts for the St. Croix Valley Foundation.
“Education is a major part of my interest,” says Schroeder, 82, who shares hobby-farm life with his wife, Vicky. His two daughters, Kim Carden and Brooke Dolan, “blossomed in public education,” Schroeder says. “… I want to give back to that because of how it benefited my own family.”
In the late 1990s, Schroeder’s River Falls Rotary Club was approached by a local teacher with an appeal for reading tutors, and he’s never looked back. He’s been reading with River Falls elementary and middle school students for decades and even designed a special curriculum for gifted kids in third through sixth grades, featuring puzzles and word and logic problems. “I have 96 students this year,” Schroeder says. “Everybody gets a packet, they get a week to work on it and then we come back together and talk through it.”
Schroeder retired from his Hudson-based actuarial business last October and is excited to have more time to work with students and community organizations. He’s been involved in the St. Croix Valley Foundation, plus several of its affiliated community foundations, like River Falls and Hudson, for decades. “I’m primarily involved in development,” Schroeder says. “I don’t hesitate to ask people for money,” he adds with a laugh. The foundation has received almost $100 million since 1995, which it uses to support local nonprofits and organizations.
“Steve is the embodiment of servant leadership,” says Heather Logelin, president and CEO of the foundation. “He is committed to making a difference at all levels, from his time as chair of the board of our regional community foundation to his extensive hands-on work, getting elementary and middle school students excited about math—and learning in general.”
Now with more time in retirement, Schroeder wants to “keep moving,” he says, whether that’s via travel or his regular running habit: He’s completed 159 marathons and still regularly runs, bikes and kayaks. This June, Schroeder ran Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon (part of Grandma’s Marathon) in Duluth, and he plans to run the Twin Cities Marathon in October.
Steve Schroeder running the 1992 Vancouver Marathon.
What’s his advice for staying sharp for fellow folks in their golden years? “We need to be with other people,” Schroeder says. “Get with a group that keeps moving. That could be travel, people who run or walk or with books. As we get older, we need friends. We need support. We need to talk.
“I’m going to keep moving,” Schroeder says again. “That’s a real important part of this.”
To learn more about the St. Croix Valley Foundation, visit scvfoundation.org.
