RIP Ben Kleinpeter

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Ben Kleinpeter, the former head of Baton Rouge-based Kleinpeter Farms Dairy, died Wednesday at the age of 91. Kenny Kleinpeter, general manager of the dairy, said his father died in his sleep. Even though Ben Kleinpeter had stepped down as president of Kleinpeter Farms 14 years ago, he still played an active role in the business. “He was there half-a-day yesterday,” Kenny Kleinpeter said. Ben Kleinpeter’s grandfather, Sebastian, and father, Leon, started the dairy in 1913 at the family farm near Highland and Perkins roads. As the middle child out of 11 children, he started working for the dairy at a young age. "If there was a dirty job, I did it and I never complained,” he told The Advocate earlier this year. He had just been named recipient of the Grace "Mama" Marino Lifetime Achievement Award from the Baton Rouge Epicurean Society for his contributions to the local food scene. Kleinpeter eventually moved on to milking the 125 cows the dairy had. He would wake up at 2 a.m. so he could “religiously” start milking the cows by 3 a.m. He would then repeat the process in the afternoon, for seven days a week. "I was very particular about quality,” he said. “My cows' udders were very clean and they were always healthy. Our milk was top notch." When Leon, also known as “Papa” retired in the mid-1960s, he gave stock in the dairy to his five sons. In 1987, Ben Kleinpeter bought out his four brothers and took control of the business. “He was instrumental in the development and success of Kleinpeter Farms Dairy,” Kenny Kleinpeter said. In 1998, Ben Kleinpeter returned the dairy to its roots, buying a 514-acre farm near Montpelier that would house all of the cows. The dairy expanded to the point where more than 1,200 cows lived there. “He was the epitome of a great salesman,” Kenny Kleinpeter said. “He knew everybody in Baton Rouge.” Kleinpeter turned the business over to his children. His son, Jeff, served as president and chief executive from 2004 to 2015, then the reins were turned over to his daughter, Sue Anne Kleinpeter Cox. "I always took great pride in the Kleinpeter name with the dairy business because our quality was so good," Ben Kleinpeter had said. "We always relied on word-of-mouth. We gave good service 24 hours a day. … We built good relationships with our customers, and they would push Kleinpeter milk. Eventually, we wiped everybody else out."

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