Joe died of cancer March 11, 2003. He served in the Korean War in the Air Force before starting a career as a smokejumper pilot and lead plane pilot in the private sector.

In 1977 Joe began working for the U.S. Forest Service in Wenatchee and later moved to Redmond where he served as the Air Center supervisor for over 10 years. He is remembered as a true leader and a “Godfather” to a generation of forest service aviators.