Keith was born and raised in Beaumont, Texas and has lived there his entire life. He went to work full-time after high school and worked for the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company for ten years. Keith never thought that he would attend college but since Goodyear had a tuition reimbursement program he enrolled in Lamar University. He graduated from Lamar University with a B.S. in Physics in 1986. He then attended law school and graduated from South Texas College of Law with a J.D. in 1989. After a year or two in private practice, Keith served as a federal prosecutor from 1991 until 2004 with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Beaumont, Texas, where he prosecuted cases involving drug distribution and violent crime. In 2004, Keith was appointed to the federal bench as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of Texas. He has worked as a federal judge for the past 16 years and continues to do so.
Keith is a life-long learner. He attended the University of Houston Law Center and earned an LL.M. in Intellectual Property Law in 2010. During this time, he began to feel a call to ministry. Several years ago, the Episcopal Diocese of Texas founded the Iona School for Ministry which trains men and women who work full-time at other occupations to be deacons and unpaid priests in the Episcopal Church. Keith graduated from the Iona School and was ordained as a priest in 2014. He currently serves as Vicar at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Orange, Texas. Keith has been married to his wife Joyce for 39 years and he has four amazing sons and two beautiful grandchildren.