When Alex Katz was born on December 6, 1907, in Pabierowice, Mazowieckie, Poland, his father, Herman, was 23 and his mother, Sarah, was 22. He married Rose Shifman on March 18, 1928, in Memphis, Tennessee. They had three children during their marriage. He died on May 4, 1980, in Memphis, Tennessee, at the age of 72, and was buried there.