Painter and etcher Chester Leich was born in Evansville, Indiana but spent much of his youth in Europe, studying art and graphic techniques in both Germany and Italy, where he traveled widely during vacations. Upon his return to the U. S., Leich first established a studio in Evansville, then in New York, and ultimately at Leonia, New Jersey where he settled until the outbreak of World War Two, when he volunteered as a cartographer for the U. S. Coast and Geodetic survey in Washington, D. C., working there until 1956.
His graphic work, consisting mainly of landscape etchings and drypoints, was exhibited at The Society of Washington Printmakers, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and at venues in Paris, London, Stockholm, and Tokyo. Leich also conducted classes in both painting and printmaking techniques. His etchings are held in the permanent collections of the National Collection of Fine Arts, the Library of Congress, the Society of American Etchers, the National Academy of Design and numerous such institutions. He died in Alexandria, Virginia.