how does rex, despite all of his problems, show his devotion to jeanette during her college years

When Jeannette tells her father she may have to drop out of Barnard because she is $1,000 dollars short of tuition money, Rex produces $950 of earnings from poker games and tells her to use it towards school. Jeannette says that they need the money more than she does but her parents insist that she take it.