Nicholas was born in 1903 in Chicago as thirst child of Edward and Jennie Leep, who married in 1902 in Chicago.
After him were the next siblings born, in Chicago too:
Agnes (Anna), born 20 May 1904, Gerrit (Gerald, Garrett), 20 October 1905, Clara, 14 January 1907, Anthony (Anton), 10 April 1908 and Grace, 21 October 1909.

In April 1910 the family Leep lived at a farm in Chicago, ward 32. His father Edward was then, like in 1904, a gardener.

In 1911 the Leep families moved from Chicago to Canada and settled in or near the tiny Dutch community of Cramersburg, in the southwestern part of the of southern central Canadian province Saskatchewan. See for much more info and photos of Cramersburg: http://www.calvin.edu/hh/origins/Spring89.pdf

In 1923 Nicholas' family had to leave Cramersburg because of drought and crop failures and moved to Highland, Lake County, in the utter northwestern part of Indiana, adjacent to Cook County and Chicago in Illinois.

In 1924 his mother Jennie alias Katie died at the age of about 45 years, likely in or near Lansing, Illinois, about 6 miles west of Highland, Lake County, Indiana.

Nicholas married on 29 November 1928 at the age of 25 years to the four years older Hilda Zandstra, who had Frisian parents too.

They had in Lake County, Indiana, the following five children Leep:
* Jean Clarissa;
* Catherina Joyce;
* Edgar Kenneth;
* Barton Don;
* Bruce Eldon.

In 1928 they bought a dairy farm near Lowell, located about 40 miles southeast of Chicago in West Creek Township, Lake County, in the utter northwestern part of Indiana, adjacent to Cook County and Chicago in Illinois. Today, the Pleasant View Dairy operates out of a 30,000 acres-square foot plant on Highway Avenue in downtown Highland. The dairy sells most of the milk it processes to the Strack & Van Til stores.

In 1930 Nicholas E Leep (26 y) lived with his wife Hilda (30 y, born in Illinois too) and their daughter Jean C (0 y, born in Indiana) in West Creek Township, Lake County, Indiana.

In 1940 dairyman Nickolas Leep (36 y), his wife Hilda (40), their children Jean Carrol (10), Katherine (9), Edgar (6), Barton (4) and Bruce (3), all born in Indiana, lived at an own farm, worth $15000 in Highland Town, Ridge Road, North Township, Lake County, Indiana.


April 28, 2000 • Carmen McCollum in a local newspaper:

HIGHLAND -- The Leep family has survived the roller coaster dairy-processing business for 69 years. It was recently awarded the Lieutenant Governor's Half Century Business Award, given annually to selected Indiana companies that have been in business for more than 50 years and have a history of community service.
Pleasant View Dairy has long supported local charitable and community service projects. It was nominated for the honor by the Highland Chamber of Commerce and State Rep. Dan Stevenson, D-Highland. Chamber director Chris Hubbard said Pleasant View Dairy has been around for a long time, and it's about time the company has gotten some recognition. It was one of two Lake County businesses to receive the award. The other is the 92-year-old Gary Transfer Co.
Created by Nicholas Leep, the business started in Lowell on the Dutch family's dairy farm. When Nicholas Leep wasn't able to market his milk wholesale, he decided to sell it door-to-door. Leep eventually found that he was processing more milk from other farmers than from his own herd. The family also decided that dairy farming was a grueling 24-hour, 7-day-a-week job, and they could do much better by concentrating on the processing of milk. In 1965, Leep sold the entire herd, buying milk from local farmers. The first actual plant was built near Martha and U.S. 41. When the company outgrew that site, Leep built the current 30,000-square-foot plant on Highway Avenue in downtown Highland in 1948.
Brothers Kenneth and Barton Leep learned the business from the ground up from their father, and began operating it in 1967 after Nicolas' death.
"The unique thing about us is that we buy all of our milk from local farmers, and as a result, it's at least one to three days fresher than anything else on the market here," Kenneth Leep said during a plant tour. "Due to logistics, the big companies can't do it that fast," he said. "We can
pretty much do a 24-hour turnaround. That means the cow is milked one day, we get the milk, process it and have it in the stores the next day."
The plant processes about 75,000 gallons of milk a day. Pleasant View Dairy sells the bulk of its milk to the Strack & Van Til stores in Northwest Indiana and in Illinois. The company has annual sales of $9 million and 40 employees.
Kenneth Leep has continued to grow the business, running it after his brother Barton died. Semi-retired, he has passed it on to the third generation, sons Frederick and William and nephew Barton Jr.

May 10, 2009 • LuAnn, FranklinTimes Correspondent:

Pleasant View Dairy maintains local market for 80 years

For more than 80 years, Pleasant View Dairy has brought farm-fresh milk and other dairy products to customers throughout Northwest Indiana and south suburban Illinois.

The company started in 1928 when N.E. and Hilda Leep bought a Lowell dairy farm called Pleasant View and began producing milk for the wholesale market. About five years later, the couple went into the retail business in Highland.
And although technology continues to change the way dairy foods are processed, what hasn't changed is the Leep family's commitment to small local farm families and to the community.

"We only buy from small family farms in Northwest Indiana and south suburban Illinois. Now there's more focus on 'buying local.' We've always done that," said Bill Leep, vice president and a member of the third of four generations of the family that owns and runs the Highland company. "All our employees are from Northwest Indiana. We're part of the community," he said. "We hope people remember that when they go to the store to buy milk."
Pleasant View's is also two days fresher "from the cow to the people" because of this local farm connection, said Ken Leep, president emeritus and son of the founders. Bigger dairy operations gather milk from large geographic areas and store it before processing, he said.
"People tell us they can tell the difference," he said, adding that Pleasant View milk also stays fresher longer.
All the milk from Pleasant View is also hormone-free, Ken Leep said.
The small dairy farms are part of a co-op that pools the milk produced and sells it in bulk. Tanker trucks from the co-op pick up the raw milk daily and bring it to Pleasant View's facility.
There the tankers are emptied and the milk is pasteurized to kill bacteria. A quick continuous heating process warms the milk to 170 degrees for 15 seconds, then cools it immediately. The pasteurized milk then is pumped up into large holding tanks that will take 2,000 to 15,000 gallons at a time.
In the middle of this pasteurization process, the milk is homogenized by putting it under high pressure.
"This breaks down the fat molecules into tiny particles that are then evenly distributed throughout the milk. It won't separate into cream and skim milk as it used to do," Bill Leep said.
Pleasant View Dairy supplies its products to retail grocery stores, convenience stores and gas station markets. Employees package milk in gallon to half-pint sizes. Pleasant View halted home delivery about 15 years ago, as more stores opened their doors and fewer customers wanted the service.
The company also provides dairy products to institutional clients such as hospitals, nursing homes, restaurants, colleges and school systems.
Each week, Pleasant View processes 60,000 gallons of milk into various foods including whole, 2 percent, 1 percent and skim milk; chocolate milk; and whipping cream, sour cream and half-and-half. The amount of butterfat determines whether milk is whole (3.25 percent) or skim milk (.2 percent).
"The more butterfat, the richer the product," Bill Leep said. "Whipping cream is 30 to 36 percent butter fat. Half-and-half is between 10-1/2 to 12 percent butterfat." Bottled orange juice, cottage cheese, butter and nondairy creamers also are available through Pleasant View Dairy.
Recently the company added Crystal Lake bottled water to its product list. The purified drinking water is processed into gallon bottles primarily used in institutional settings.
"We have water contracts with health care facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes. If a water main breaks and there's boil order, we'll show up with palettes of water in bottles," Bill Leep said.
Pleasant View Dairy also maintains its own fleet of delivery trucks. Business remains steady, he said. "We have the capacity to produce more, but the dairy business is very competitive."

In 2012 there was a Nicholas and Hilda Leep Foundation existing in Highland, 2625 Highway Avenue, Lake County, Indiana. It primarily operates in the Civic and Social Organizations industry and had $61,800 revenu in 2011.
The foundation was formed in June 1967 in Indiana by their son Bruce Leep, then located at 3535 Lincoln Pl., Highland, IN 46322.

Nicholas Leep died in 1967 at the age of about 64 years. His widow Hilda died in 1981 at the age of 81 years.
They are together buried in Hope Cemetery, Highland's only cemetery, owned by area "Dutch" churches.