When Ray Charles Keim was born on 22 August 1898, in Davenport, Thayer, Nebraska, United States, his father, Dennis Keim, was 40 and his mother, Sarah Jane "Jennie" Cramer, was 39. He married Edna Eldora Lambert on 12 February 1920, in Davenport, Thayer, Nebraska, United States. They were the parents of at least 2 sons and 3 daughters. He lived in Hammond Township, Nuckolls, Nebraska, United States for about 30 years and Hammond Election Precinct, Nuckolls, Nebraska, United States in 1940. He died in July 1969, in Mercer, Illinois, United States, at the age of 70, and was buried in New Windsor, Mercer, Illinois, United States.