Edwin Francis Keever was born on May 18, 1864, in Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania.

He was a clergyman. He graduated from Muhlenberg College and entered the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He graduated in 1889 and began his career in the ministry in the West where he served in Washington, Utah, and Oregon for 4 years. He served with the troops on the U.S. border during the Mexican war (1846-1848) and also World War I (1914-1918). Upon his return from the War, he lectured for the National Lutheran Council, later becoming student pastor at Harvard University. In 1921, he moved to Wilmington, N.C. to become the highly-esteemed pastor of St. Paul's Lutheran church. He served 60 years as an ordained minister. He was a member of the Exchange Club, American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Wilmington Light Infantry, and was a captain in the in-active reserve of the U.S. Army. The Wilmington Exchange club established the "Citizenship Award" in his honour.

In 1892, he married Sarah or Sadie Elizabeth Durr (1864–1927). He died on December 17, 1949, in Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina.