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Kees was descended from a prominent Central Louisiana family which operated Kees General Store on the Red River. He was the third of four children of William "Billy" Kees, Sr. (1881-1938), who was named the Pineville postmaste] in 1911,  when the mail office was located in the Kees store.<ref name=keespark/> His mother was the former Julia Elizabeth Bradford (1886-1961). He had two sisters, Ruby Kees Wise (1905-1975) and Myrtle Lucille Kees Freeman (1913-1998),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=106550480|title=William E. Kees, Sr.|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=July 24, 2015}}</ref> and a brother, Stafford Kees (1919-1991).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XMRT-3VB|title=W. E. Kees|publisher=familysearch.org|accessdate=July 24, 2015}}</ref>

Kees was descended from a prominent Central Louisiana family which operated Kees General Store on the Red River. He was the third of four children of William "Billy" Kees, Sr. (1881-1938), who was named the Pineville postmaste] in 1911,  when the mail office was located in the Kees store.<ref name=keespark/> His mother was the former Julia Elizabeth Bradford (1886-1961). He had two sisters, Ruby Kees Wise (1905-1975) and Myrtle Lucille Kees Freeman (1913-1998),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=106550480|title=William E. Kees, Sr.|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=July 24, 2015}}</ref> and a brother, Stafford Kees (1919-1991).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XMRT-3VB|title=W. E. Kees|publisher=familysearch.org|accessdate=July 24, 2015}}</ref>

A [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], Kees was elected mayor at the age of twenty-nine. That same year a flood of the Red River spilled over into Pineville because of levee height and strength. However, the taller and stronger levee held in the sister city of [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]]. Mayor Kees set forth to bring the levee on the eastern side of the river on par with that in Alexandria.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-QGyaGsLxLYC&pg=PA226&lpg=PA226&dq=Willie+E.+Kees,+Jr.+of+Pineville&source=bl&ots=elegIHGf9X&sig=Men7nxEUB6L4Z5wlQaebU-o-JL0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CEIQ6AEwBmoVChMI0rCm3_XyxgIVRo4NCh1L4Q7y#v=onepage&q=Willie%20E.%20Kees%2C%20Jr.%20of%20Pineville&f=false|title=Talk of the Town: The Rise of Alexandria, Louisiana, and the Daily Town  

A [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], Kees was elected mayor at the age of twenty-nine. That same year a flood of the Red River spilled over into Pineville because of levee height and strength. However, the taller and stronger levee held in the sister city of [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]]. Mayor Kees set forth to bring the levee on the eastern side of the river on par with that in Alexandria.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-QGyaGsLxLYC&pg=PA226&lpg=PA226&dq=Willie+E.+Kees,+Jr.+of+Pineville&source=bl&ots=elegIHGf9X&sig=Men7nxEUB6L4Z5wlQaebU-o-JL0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CEIQ6AEwBmoVChMI0rCm3_XyxgIVRo4NCh1L4Q7y#v=onepage&q=Willie%20E.%20Kees%2C%20Jr.%20of%20Pineville&f=false|title=Talk of the Town: The Rise of Alexandria, Louisiana, and the Daily Town Talk|author=Frederick Marcel Spletstoser|pages=125-126|publisher=[[Louisiana State University]] Press|location=[[Baton Rouge]], [[Louisiana]]|date=2005|isbn=0-8071-2934-8|accessdate=July 24, 2015}}</ref>  

Talk|author=Frederick Marcel Spletstoser|pages=125-126|publisher=[[Louisiana State University]] Press|location=[[Baton Rouge]], [[Louisiana]]|date=2005|isbn=0-8071-2934-8|accessdate=July 24, 2015}}</ref>  

In 1948, Pineville had only one police car and one fire truck. With city finances at a low ebb, Kees went to his store, Kees General Store on the Red River to obtain gasoline for both vehicles. Nearly seventy years later the size of the city and its service employees have mushroomed beyond what many at that time would not have thought likely or possible.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.thetowntalk.com/article/20060419/COMMUNITIES/50608024/Pineville-s-rich-history-dates-1714|title=Pineville's rich history dates to 1714|author=Oberia Price|publisher=''The Alexandria Daily Town Talk'|date=June 8, 2005|accessdate=July 24, 2015}}</ref>

In 1948, Pineville had only one police car and one fire truck. With city finances at a low ebb, Kees went to his store, Kees General Store on the Red River to obtain gasoline for both vehicles. Nearly seventy years later the size of the city and its service employees have mushroomed beyond what many at that time would not have thought likely or possible.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.thetowntalk.com/article/20060419/COMMUNITIES/50608024/Pineville-s-rich-history-dates-1714|title=Pineville's rich history dates to 1714|author=Oberia Price|publisher=''The Alexandria Daily Town Talk'|date=June 8, 2005|accessdate=July 24, 2015}}</ref>