I was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama, and attended McGill-Toolen High School, Spring Hill College, and the University of Alabama Law School. I served in the U.S. Army and did a tour of duty in Vietnam. I have two brothers, Bill McAtee, who is a retired Vice Principal from McGill-Toolen, and Dr. John McAtee, who is a pulmonary specialist practicing in Gulf Shores, Alabama and is known for "snatching people from the jaws of death." My wife, Angela DeSantis McAtee, has a Masters Degree in math from the University of Alabama and has her own gourmet food business known as "Kris-Pat-Ory Kids Inc." My wife, Angela, and I have three sons, Patrick (Masters Civil Engineering, Auburn University), Gregory (Ph.D, University of North Carolina), and Christopher (medical student at the University of Birmingham).