 His father, Philip May Tate, was a member of the Tate family that had developed the Georgia Marble Company in Pickens County, Georgia, but Mr. Tate himself was a banker and farmer, having established the Calhoun National Bank.Upon his death in 1911 his widow, Mrs. Edna F. Tate, became president of the bank and managed the farm.William attended Fairmount High School and the Georgia Military Academy, from which he graduated in 1920.