keeton was born in clarksville, texas. he was the second youngest of five children of william keeton (who owned a general store) and ernestine teuton keeton. one of his brothers, w. page keeton, also became a prominent lawyer and educator. keeton earned his bachelor of business administration from the university of texas at austin and his bachelor of laws from the university of texas school of law. as an undergraduate he became one of three students inducted into the friar society, an honor society at the university of texas. in law school he was the assistant editor-in-chief of the "texas law review". keeton went into private practice with the law firm of baker & botts in houston before joining the united states navy in world war ii. as a lieutenant serving aboard the escort aircraft carrier uss "liscome bay" (cve-56) he survived the sinking of the ship on november 24, 1943, by a torpedo from the japanese submarine i-175. keeton, clinging to debris for hours, was later pulled from the ocean. he was awarded a purple heart. keeton returned to baker & botts in 1945 after the war. he later taught at southern methodist university.