Editor’s Note: The Bangor Daily News is profiling people age 70 and older who choose to remain in the work force, examining why they still feel the need to work and how they feel about their jobs. The profiles will run occasionally.

MILFORD – Each morning at 4 a.m., 70-year-old Francis Richard arrives at work. He loads doughnuts and pastries into his delivery truck and then heads to Bangor.

The 30-year Milford resident, who also serves as chairman of the Town Council, said keeping active is the main reason he remains behind the wheel of his LaBree’s Delivery Service truck.

“I like to keep working because it keeps me using my brain,” Richard said recently. “I feel like if I sat around I would just deteriorate.”

Richard runs the company with his son, Timothy Richard, who actually started the delivery service 22 years ago.

“We deliver LaBree’s doughnuts, Mrs. Dunister, from Canada, and pastries,” he said. “I have four vehicles on the road. We go all the way down to Bar Harbor, over to Milo, Machias and this area here.”

For 11 years Richard owned and operated the family-run Richard’s Place fast-food restaurant in Old Town. Last August he decided to retire from running his Main Street restaurant and now rents out the space to the Rivertree Coffeehouse Cafe. The delivery service is run out of the back of the building.

“I gave it [the restaurant] up really because it was time to start slowing down,” said Richard, who was 69 at the time. “You meet the nicest people and I loved it. It was great, it really was, and I miss it.”

Years of camaraderie with locals and people on his delivery route make the early morning rise worth the effort, said Richard, who employs mostly family members.

“With the restaurant I was working 12 to 14 hours [a day], and now I work four hours in the morning,” he said. “I load my vehicle up and deliver to the Bangor area. I … just go out and meet the people. I enjoy it.”

Richard said he likes the idea of a family business. His wife, Shirley, helps out the delivery service by handling the billing. His granddaughter, Morgan Richard, processes doughnuts for the business, and his grandson, Shane Richard, fills in when needed and helps Shirley with the billing. Richard’s daughter, Brenda, has worked for him in the past, along with granddaughter Kristy Morin.

“I’m very fortunate,” he said. “I have great kids and grandkids.”

Family health care costs also have a hand in Richard’s continued employment. In 1986 he had open-heart surgery, and his wife, who has asthma and emphysema, has had several operations.

“It was costing us $785 a month [for medications],” Richard said. “In Canada, a three-month supply is only $300 and something.

“I think that’s a reason a lot of [older] people continue working today – because they can’t afford health insurance,” he said. “But even if I didn’t have to pay for that [expense] I would still do it. I really do enjoy it.”

Richard served in the U.S. Army in Germany for two years during the Korean conflict. He is still active in the Knights of Columbus and is working with town officials and residents to finish a playground in Milford.

Richard said he hopes it is years before he retires.

“When I’m ready to get rid of [the delivery service], I’ll turn it over to my son,” he said. “I’m in no rush.”