To take the measure of a man like James Milgard, you can review his personality test, which describes him as “amiable, someone for whom relationships are terribly important.”

You can describe the Fife window company that he and his late brother, Gary, built from a four-person operation into $500 million in annual sales, 4,000 employees and 13 manufacturing plants across the country.

You can chronicle the causes that get his millions – the business school at the University of Washington Tacoma, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Pierce County, future emergency rooms at Tacoma General Hospital and Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital among others.

You can look at his family – 42-year marriage to Carolyn; a son, Jim Jr., nicknamed Jimmer, now a Sun Valley, Idaho, developer; and an entrepreneurial daughter, Allison, designing shoes in Los Angeles.

You can roll all those notable, visible accomplishments together and understand why the UWT school named for Milgard and his brother will award him its 2009 business lifetime achievement award next month.

But Terry Johnson wants you to know something more about James Milgard, something that happened in a private moment 25 years ago.

Milgard Manufacturing Inc., had just entered its traditional winter lull. The construction industry’s seasonal hiatus meant seasonal layoffs on Milgard’s window production lines. And Johnson, a junior employee in his second year on the line, found himself unemployed.

Rather than leave quietly, Johnson pestered Milgard to hire him back. But Milgard had to follow the rules of the union’s seniority list.

“I can’t do that, Terry. But what will it take to get you off my back?” Milgard asked.

“My wife is pregnant and I need the work,” Johnson said.

Milgard took out his checkbook and wrote Johnson a check for $800 and told him to come back in three weeks when, hopefully, the production line would ramp up again.

“I can’t take that, Mr. Milgard,” Johnson said. “I have no way to pay you back.”

“You will,” Milgard said.

When Johnson got put back to work, he paid Milgard $50 a week until he had repaid the loan.

Today, a generation later, Johnson oversees the Fife production line for Milgard’s insulated windows.

“I had forgotten about that until Terry reminded me of it,” Milgard said last week.

But Johnson won’t ever forget it.

Milgard says, simply, “My brother and I learned along the way about the things that were necessary to grow the business. … We learned we were in the people business. The key all along has been to get the right people around us. You always find the bright, goal-oriented people and get out of the way.”

James Milgard doesn’t fancy a lot of attention. Never has. He’d rather go fly-fishing. Or add to his collection of historic documents signed by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Lewis and Clark.

“He’s truly a man of few words,” said his wife, Carolyn.

Ever since he left community college in California in 1961 and started work at his mom-and-pop-and-brother’s Milgard Glass Co., he gladly let his older brother, Gary, stand in the spotlight, speak for their company and accept the accolades.

Gary Milgard died in July 2005 after a battle with cancer. In a 2004 book about the family business, “The Milgard Story,” Gary described his relationship with his little brother: “Suffice it to say, that I’ve been the driving force of the business, while Jim has done a lot of the behind-the-scenes things that have been vitally important.”

In the beginning, 21-year-old James Milgard answered the phones, handcrafted window screens, drove the delivery truck and helped the glazier. “I did a little of everything, but I’m not sure I did any of it that well,” Milgard said.

As the company grew, the younger Milgard oversaw the expansions, the construction of new plants and the evolution into new equipment and technologies – double-pane windows, vinyl frames, tempered glass.

The early adoption of window innovations kept Milgard a step ahead of its competition. And the strategy of building plants in new markets helped Milgard grab market share from competitors who operated one mega-plant and shipped products long distance.

Gary Milgard’s daughter, Cari Milgard-DeGoede, described her uncle this way, “I have great admiration for Uncle Jim. Imagine how strong a person’s character must be to watch your older brother get most of the recognition and know in your heart you worked just as hard in your own way. To me, that is the essence of humility.”

These days that strong character and humility play out in ways that benefit the greater Tacoma community. The Milgards sold their business in 2001 to Michigan-based Masco Corp. for $825 million. That allowed the brothers and their families to form separate foundations so they could support local causes they favor.

“Education and health care,” Milgard said. And the Boys & Girls Clubs.

“Did you know they did a survey of CEOs in America and found that 51 percent said the Boys & Girls Clubs saved them? They didn’t believe the results, so they sent out another survey. It came back the same. … I like to support things that give kids a better chance to succeed in life.”

Milgard splits his time these days between his primary family’s waterfront home on Allen Point west of Gig Harbor, a cattle ranch on the Deschutes River near Bend, Ore., and a vacation home in Indian Wells, Calif.

After the company sold to Masco, the deal required the Milgard brothers to continue managing the company for two years but allowed them to stay with the company for as long as they wanted.

On paper, Milgard has retired. In practice, he still keeps an office at the Fife headquarters, still stops in to view financial reports, still makes impromptu visits to Milgard plants around the country, still visits sites installing Milgard windows.

“I think I always will,” Milgard said. “My name’s on the business, so it’s important to me that we build a quality product and continue to service the customer.”

Dan Voelpel: 253-597-8785

dan.voelpel@thenewstribune.com">dan.voelpel@thenewstribune.com

Business leadership award winners

The Milgard School of Business at the University of Washington Tacoma has named four recipients of its annual Business Leadership Awards. This year the school will honor a Nonprofit Leader of the Year, a Business Leader of the Year, a Small Business Leader of the Year and a Lifetime Achievement winner. This month, the business section of The News Tribune will profile the winners.

April 12: Brian Forth, president and founder of Sitecrafting Inc.

April 19: William L. Matthaei, president and CEO of the Roman Meal Co.

Today: James A. Milgard, retired from Milgard Manufacturing

April 28: David Ottey, former director of the Emergency Food Network