Joseph served in the Civilians Military Training Corps during World War II. He remarked that he was "too young for the first war and too old for the second war". He had been a member of the West Methodist Church, where he played a saxiphone in the church band. At the time of his death, he was a member of the Haw River First Baptist Church, where he sang in the choir. He died at home at 119 Boundry St. of an apparent heart attack. Joseph is buried in Alamance Memorial Gardens, Burlington, NC next to his wife.