When Thomas Larry Atkinson Sr. was born on 17 July 1917, his father, Edward B. Atkinson, was 36 and his mother, Geogianna Mather, was 37. He married Stella Alice Buxton in January 1946, in Alaska, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 son. He died on 23 October 1995, at the age of 78.