Joe was born on April 7, 1954, in Ohio. He had three sisters. He died in an auto accident on February 25, 1981, in Deschutes County, Oregon, at the age of 26, and was buried in Brook Park, Ohio. Joe jumped at Redmond during the 1980 season. Yearbook photos show him attending St. Edward H.S. in Lakewood, Ohio, in 1969.