When William Lloyd Askey was born on 21 December 1938, in Oxford, Furnas, Nebraska, United States, his father, William John Askey, was 26 and his mother, Esther Jane Stump, was 29. He married Judy May Smith on 6 July 1958, in Beaver City, Furnas, Nebraska, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 daughter. He died on 12 April 2011, in Cordell, Washita, Oklahoma Territory, United States, at the age of 72.