When Richard T. Farmer graduated with a business degree from Miami University of Oxford, Ohio, in 1956, he knew exactly what he didn’t want to do: Go to work for his father, whose tiny firm washed greasy rags used in factories.
“I had big aspirations,” Mr. Farmer told the New York Times later. “And my dad wanted me to go back into the grubby little laundry.” Finally, yielding to family pressure, he joined the family firm and succeeded his father in running it.
Over the next four decades Mr. Farmer transformed that business into Cintas Corp. , a Cincinnati-based provider of uniform-rental and other services with a stock market value of $40 billion. Among other things, Cintas delivers cleaning and first-aid supplies, cleans restrooms and provides fire extinguishers and safety training.
Though it lacks glamor, the business is steady. Cintas has increased its dividend for 37 consecutive years.
Mr. Farmer, who led the company as chief executive until 1995 and served as chairman until 2009, died Aug. 4. He was 86 and had struggled with Parkinson’s disease for a decade.
