BELMONT COUNTY, Ohio (WTRF)

Al Scheid graduated from Bridgeport High School in 1950.

He went on to become a successful investment counselor, a top winery owner in California and a multi-millionaire.

Through the years, he never forgot his alma mater, donating more than a half million dollars in total for projects like a long-time scholarship program, grandstands, a softball field, even the pine trees surrounding the high school.

Scheid died March 31 at the age of 91, and in his obituary, he asked for memorial contributions to be sent to “BEAF,” Bridgeport Educational Assistance Program.

Friends remember Scheid as a rowdy student who often got in trouble in class, and was sent to the school library.

He reportedly spent so much time there that the school librarian, Verna Shelhammer, made sure he read rather than napped, gave him books to take home as well.

He credited her with sparking his lifelong love of reading.

School officials say Scheid’s staunch support of his high school never wavered, and top performing students received scholarships for nearly 30 years.