Farmer, cattle breeder.
Born in the RM of Silver Creek on 10 June 1916, the fourth of five sons of Julius Kieper (1876-1955) and Barbara Lettie McLennon (1886-1971), despite having little formal education and leaving school in the eighth grade, he became a lifelong learner. In his youth, he and his brother Alex developed a successful mink fur business which they operated until the late 1930s. In 1940, he took over his father’s farm.
In the early 1950s, he began developing a purebred registered Hereford herd. By 1963, he and his son Jim formed a formal farming partnership under the name Half Diamond K Ranch. Together, they built a legendary reputation, earning numerous first-place ribbons and Grand Champion titles at fairs and cattle shows. A true pinnacle for the ranch came in 1973 when Half Diamond K swept the competition, winning the championship in every category of Hereford bulls at the Brandon Winter Fair.
Beyond the ranch, he was a pillar of the agricultural community. He was highly involved in many farm organizations, serving as a director for the Manitoba Beef Growers Association and the Manitoba Cattle Producers Association. He also served as the Manitoba Director for the Canadian Hereford Association before being elected its national President in 1972. In recognition of his contributions to the breed, he was named to the Canadian Hereford Association Honour Roll in 1984.
On 10 July 1941, he married Annie Lorena “Tony” Adolphe (1920-1983) at Russell. They had a son and two daughters. Later in life, he married Verna Evans.
He passed away at Brandon on 27 April 2016 and was buried in the Russell Memorial Garden.
Birth registration [John Willis Kieper], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Marriage registration [John Willis Kieper, Annie Lorena Adolphe], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 30 April 2016.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
This page was prepared by Zeel Bulsara.
Page revised: 29 June 2026
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