The Boss - Still Minding the Mill - NYTimes.com I'M 81 and have been working since I was 13. In junior high school, I ripped old fabric off of chairs and sofas for a furniture re-upholsterer. This was during World War II, so the men had gone to war, the women were taking the men's jobs, and kids could be hired because there was still more to do. I think I made as much money finding coins in the creases of the furniture as I got paid. At 16, I worked unloading boxcars in a warehouse. One day, the boss asked me to run a whole department, including the inventory, the accounting and managing the people. That gave me a lot of confidence, to hear him say he believed I could do it. My dad and I used to spend hours at the kitchen table, talking late into the night about all kinds of ideas. My mom used to call from her room for us to "Go to sleep already!" We planned to start a company together when I grew up. I loved my father dearly and nothing would have made me happier than setting up shop with him. My dad smoked three packs of cigarettes a day; he died from lung disease in his 40s. My mom died soon after - she was a smoker, too. My biggest regret in life was that we didn't have time to start that business. My father's death inspired me to start a company that would help people lead healthier lives - I wanted to get on the positive side of things. After time in the Army and different jobs, I picked up a book one day called "John Goffe's Mill." It was about a fellow inheriting an old flour mill and rebuilding it. By that time, my wife, Charlee, had discovered whole grains and healthy foods. The combination of her knowledge and that book inspired us to start a business - Moore's Flour Mill - in 1972 in Redding, Calif. I bought some millstones from a company that was going out of business in North Carolina and stored them in my garage in Redding until I was ready to start the company. My wife, two of my sons and their wives all pitched in. We learned to grind grains through those lovely stone mills and made muffin and pancake mixes. After four years of growth and success, the small town of Redding could not support three families in such a specialized food business. Charlee and I moved to Portland, Ore., refurbished an old mill building and started up again as Bob's Red Mill Natural Foods, with several employees. The boys bought out my share of the original operation and now supply us with granola and polenta. It's been more than 30 years, and I still have some of the same employees. We have more than 400 products now, sold all over the world. Our growth has been amazing. Even during the recession, people are looking for healthy foods to feed their families. I have grown to view mistakes and bad luck differently over the years. At one point, when my sons were young, I went broke owning a gas station at a ski resort that didn't get any snow. That was a tough five or six years. When I was 60, an arsonist burned down our mill. I was thinking of retiring after that happened, but stayed with the business to help my employees. One had just put money down on his first house. I couldn't leave them without jobs. The company's best years came after that. I decided this year to give my company to my employees through an employee stock ownership plan. Anyone who has been there three years or longer will have a piece of the business. I could have sold it. We get plenty of offers. But my employees, including the sales staff all over the world, have really made it what it is today. I'll take credit for being the energy and spirit behind it, but they deserve to own the company. I'm 81, after all, and I can't take it with me.