After graduating from Niagara University, Joe Walsh served in the US Navy—two cruises on the USS Constellation, 314 landings in the F-4 Phantom, and 12 missions over Viet Nam and Laos. After leaving the Navy, he worked for IBM and Remington Rand prior to beginning his own business ventures—founding and publishing both the Marin and Sonoma Classified Gazettes. In 1978, Joe was the Founding Member of the then San Geronimo Valley Affordable Housing Association and served as Board Chair 4 times. He has also chaired the San Rafael Chamber of Commerce, the San Geronimo Valley Property Owners Assocation and served on the Board of the League of Women Voters Housing Committee. And after 28 years, Joe is still on the Board of Marin Environmental Housing Collaborative Advisory Committee; 5 as its President.

Joe has been married to Geraldine Walsh for 53 years. They have three grown sons: Bill (San Rafael), Michael (San Francisco) and Joe Jr. (Santa Cruz), and four grandchildren.