According to the Georgia Tech Library archives description of materials related to Harman Wayne Patterson, known as Wayne or "Pat," he was born in May 1889 in San Francisco, California. Patterson graduated from Georgia Tech with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 1912. As a student, he played class baseball and varsity football, participated in the Glee Club and Mandolin Club, and served as vice-president and then president of the Y.M.C.A. He also was a member of the track and tennis teams and served on the Yellow Jacket and Blue Print boards.

Following graduation from Tech in 1912, Patterson worked for Stone and Webster, the firm building the Goat Rock Dam in Columbus, Georgia. On 24 June 1915, Patterson married Isabel Garrard whom he met in the summer of 1911 while working for a member of the Garrard family. Isabel, an amateur archaeologist and early champion of archaeology in the Columbus area, died in 1955. They had no children. Patterson was a veteran of WWI and retired as an electrical engineer for Georgia Power Company. He was also involved in real estate and insurance . Patterson died Columbus, Georgia in March 1987, survived by his wife Evelyn S. Patterson.