BARRE, Vt. (WCAX) – From the outside, Paul LaRose’s building in Barre reveals few clues to what lies inside.
From a homemade exercise machine to keep his heart pumping to a couple of million dollars worth of woodworking equipment. LaRose knows his craft. He started making high-end custom wood products back in the ‘50s. Now retired, he hopes his grandson, Austin Jacobs, is the future. “He’s probably going to take the business over, I hope,” LaRose said.
LaRose watches every move as his grandson masters the machines. “He likes to call it ‘follow the leader.’ I follow him around every day. He points, I go,” Jacobs said.
The 88-year-old has had health issues. From a heart valve replacement to a stroke. And then there are the complications from diabetes that made him a double amputee. But it hasn’t stopped LaRose from making canoes with Austin. The two work side by side pretty much every day.
Reporter Joe Carroll: Was it difficult to lose your legs?
Paul LaRose: No.
Reporter Joe Carroll: A lot of people would be surprised by that.
“You got to live every day to its fullest and don’t let these things get back to you or get you down,” LaRose said.
What they make in the shop, LaRose mostly gives away, including 14 canoes. “It’s not about me, it’s about everyone else. That’s my philosophy,” he said.
Building the boats has also been therapy for the pair. Paul’s grandson Taylor — Jacob’s older brother — died suddenly four years ago from a drug overdose.
“Inseparable, one could say,” Jacobs said. “‘Mr. T’ is what grandpa always called him growing up. He was his right-hand man. It’s been hard for all of us, for sure.”
“He was my number one,” LaRose said. “You got to accept it, as hard as it is, you got to accept it.”
LaRose and Taylor were working on a canoe around the time he died. It remains in the shop. “This one is pretty special,” LaRose said.
Jacobs helped complete the canoe with his grandpa. “Gave it to my mother when we finished it,” he said.
Since Taylor’s death, the pair have bonded like glue. “He’s a Godsend, for sure,” Jacobs said. “He means the world to me. Can learn a lot from him. He’s got years and years of knowledge.”
Knowledge that LaRose plans to pass on with the hope that a new generation will revive a family business.