Lucy Spinks Keker was born in Abemarle, North Carolina in 1917 and graduated from the Women's College of the University of North Carolina (now UNC Greensboro) in 1938. After college, Keker moved to Washington, D.C. to work for the Democratic National Committee's Women's Division under the leadership of Eleanor Roosevelt. In Washington, Keker reunited with and married Sam Keker, whom she had met in 1937 at a conference for student leaders in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Sam and Lucy Keker were married for 72 years at the time of Sam's death in 2012. Lucy died in 2019 at the age of 101.

Keker spent many years in civic engagement as a member of the League of Women Voters, the Montgomery County (Maryland) School Board, and her local church. She and her husband Sam were also major supporters of Democratic elected officials. Sam Keker, a Navy veteran of WWII and the Korean War, rose through the ranks of U.S. News and World Report to retire in 1984 as Chairman of the Board. The Kekers had two sons, Jerry and John, who served in the Marines during the Vietnam War and were both wounded. John Keker later became a prominent trial lawyer and was chief prosecutor in the Iran-Contra case against Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North.

Sam and Lucy Keker have also been great supporters of UNCG, and higher education in general. In 2019, The Keker Common Experience program was named for them. The Keker Common Experience program is a holistic student success program designed to help new students transition to academic life at UNC Greensboro. This high impact practice instills a multi-faceted approach to student success and development to empower students with the tools and skills needed to find their way here.