When Walter Alexander Nagely was born on 11 October 1908, in Portland, Multnomah, Oregon, United States, his father, John H Nageli, was 29 and his mother, Ida Aeby, was 24. He married Anne Genevieve Wilson on 4 May 1936, in Stevenson, Skamania, Washington, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 son. He lived in Sunnyside, Clark, Oregon Territory, United States in 1950 and Portland, Washington, Oregon, United States in 1998. He died on 24 October 1990, in Tillamook, Tillamook, Oregon, United States, at the age of 82, and was buried in Portland, Multnomah, Oregon, United States.