Born in Greenland, Michigan, on March 8, 1925, and raised in Oconto, Wisconsin, Joseph attended Notre Dame University until July 1943. He then joined the Air Corps and served with the 8th Air Force in England during World War II. From December 10, 1944, to June 17, 1945, he served as a Navigator 1034 on the B-24 in the E.T.O., specifically in the Rhineland, Central Europe, and the Ardennes, where he earned the Air Medal 3 OLC for two enemy shootdowns.
Joseph later returned to Notre Dame to complete his BSEE. He subsequently founded a highly successful electrical service company in Chicago. As a husband and father of six, grandfather of sixteen, and great-grandfather of twenty-five, Joseph is remembered by his loved ones as "an incredible person and an inspiration to everyone who knows him."