Ralph Moses Paiewonsky was born on 9 November 1907 in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. He was married to Ethel Heller. He died on 9 November 1991 in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.
Served eight years as Governor of the Virgin Islands in the 1960s. President John F. Kennedy appointed him Governor of the territory in 1961, inaugurating a period of substantial growth in tourism and economic development.