Ben Kleinpeter, the former head of the local, family-owned Kleinpeter Farms Dairy, died in his sleep Wednesday. He was 91 years old.
Kleinpeter’s grandfather, Sebastian, and father, Leon, started the dairy in 1913 at the family farm near Highland and Perkins roads. When Leon retired in the mid-1960s, he gave stock in the dairy to his five sons, with Ben buying out his four brothers in 1987 and taking control of the business.
In 1998, he reopened Kleinpeter Farm—which had ceased operations in 1982 due to the southward expansion of Baton Rouge—by buying a 514-acre farm near Montpelier that would expand to the point of housing as many as 1,200 cows.
Fourteen years ago, Kleinpeter turned the dairy over to his children, with his son Jeff serving as president and chief executive from 2004-2015 and daughter Sue Anne Kleinpeter Cox assuming the role in 2015.
Still, Kleinpeter maintained an active role in the company, receiving numerous awards and accolades throughout his career. In 1999, he was inducted into Business Report’s Hall of Fame, an honor that recognizes a lifetime of achievement. Kleinpeter Farms Dairy was named a 2009 Company of the Year by Business Report and Junior Achievement, and was among Baton Rouge’s Top 100 private companies in 2018.
