Marty Ryan and Richard Sterbenz were not known for their academic prowess.
Ryan barely graduated from high school; Sterbenz never did.
Despite their lack of formal education, the Somerset, Wis., couple amassed a fortune running Dalson Foods, a global meat-trading business, and Richmar Industries, a realty company. They also owned and operated MR Convenience Store, Rich’s Eatery and several real estate developments in the Somerset area.
The couple, who had no children, decided to establish a $4 million scholarship fund upon their deaths to “give kids like them a shot at life that they never had,” said Karen Hansen, a partner at the Winthrop & Weinstine law firm in Minneapolis and a longtime friend.
Sterbenz, who died in 2016 at the age of 71, and Ryan, who died in 2010 at the age of 63, were “lifelong learners … who educated themselves on the job, acquiring skills along the way from the school of hard knocks,” Hansen said.
“They had what we would call street smarts, things that degrees don’t necessarily give you, but astuteness on how to be a good businessperson — that you learn just by continuing to figure it out,” she said.
The Sterbenz-Ryan Scholarships will be awarded annually to approximately 100 new and returning students. Scholarships will be given to students attending a vocational-technical school; to high-school students from the St. Croix River Valley attending a two- or four-year college; and to students attending Metro State University in St. Paul, Century College in White Bear Lake or Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College.
“To me, it’s the American dream to obtain education and move yourself to a different place,” Hansen said. “These scholarships will give students an opportunity to get an education that they wouldn’t otherwise have. So many people, like them, came from families where higher ed wasn’t even given as an option. This is for those kind of kids — where they want to consider it, but financially the path would otherwise be cut off.”
Because it is an endowed fund, the scholarships will be offered annually in perpetuity, Hansen said. The fund is being administered by the St. Croix Valley Foundation.
The fund “will provide educational opportunities to thousands of worthy students and help build and employ a skilled workforce for communities in the St. Croix River Valley,” said Heather Logelin, president of the St. Croix Valley Foundation. “It is truly transformative.”
COUPLE LIVED MODESTLY
Many people in Somerset never knew that Ryan and Sterbenz, who grew up in Chicago, were millionaires. They lived and dressed modestly. They didn’t take fancy vacations or drive fancy cars.
Their one indulgence: a 3,000-square-foot addition to their home to house an indoor swimming pool, said Jenny Hansen, the couple’s accountant and Sterbenz’s personal assistant.
“The pool is probably double the size of any hotel pool,” Jenny Hansen said. “It was super fancy. It was attached right to their house, so they could walk out of their living room and jump in the pool. They both liked to swim.”
They couple also liked going to the St. Croix Casino in Turtle Lake, Wis., but only ever gambled with their winnings, she said. “They loved the casino, and they made multiple wins. I know (Richard) loved the slots, and he had had some sizable wins.”
Sterbenz always wished he had had a better education, Jenny Hansen said. “At times, they hired tutors to teach him more things that he wanted to know,” she said. “Reading was not his strong suit, but he was very strong in math.”
Ryan, who barely graduated from high school, was “actually quite brilliant,” Jenny Hansen said. “He was a brilliant business owner. He knew what risks to take and when to take them, and his businesses were successful.”
The men met at a Fourth of July party in Chicago and later decided to move to Somerset because the land was more affordable and there wasn’t as much competition, Jenny Hansen said.
“At the time of Marty’s passing, they had five companies rolling, but they had had other companies they had created and sold,” she said. “They were just complete entrepreneurs throughout the whole time. …They took chances that panned out.”
The men quietly donated to many causes around the Somerset area, including St. Croix Therapy, a nonprofit that provides physical, occupational and speech therapy. The center is located on Sterbenz Drive in Hudson.
“If they saw someone who needed help, they would quietly help them,” Karen Hansen said. “They never sought any publicity about that at all.”
Five students at Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College, which has four campuses, have already received a Sterbenz-Ryan scholarship, said Paula Meisner, a spokeswoman for the school.
Sterbenz and Ryan were firm believers in vocational-technical schools, Jenny Hansen said.
“They believed in hands-on jobs and just wanted to help kids who were like them be able to go to school,” she said. “They didn’t get that chance.”