Ernest Keeley competed in four rifle events at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, two individual and two team. After the Olympics he continued competing in events at the Bisley Rifle Range in England until a year before his death. Keeley enlisted in the Northern Mounted Rifles, Cycle and Motor Corps when World War I started. He was wounded at Delville Wood on 17 July 1916 and again at Arras on 9 April 1917, but survived both injuries. He was commissioned a second lieutenant with the 4th South African Infantry on 9 April 1918, and was killed in action at Vlaanderen, Belgium on 23 July 1918. His body was never recovered.