Joe was born on July 21, 1937. He was the son of George and Martha Biggs. He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Janis Biggs, his brother George Earl (Gloria) Biggs, his daughter Elizabeth (Greg) Schottle; his grandson who he loved dearly, Devin Blount. 

He graduated from Greater Johnstown High School Johnstown, PA in 1955. He worked in the steel mills in the furnace department.  He started working for Capital airlines on July 23, 1956. In 1961 Capital merged with United airlines and he worked for them for 40 years. He started out in air freight then transferred to the training department in Chicago. Eventually he was transferred to San Francisco to become the company liaison between United and the FAA to ensure that the company adhered to federal guidelines for handling dangerous goods. He could recite every page and paragraph of the regulations. He worked throughout the United system training on how to handle dangerous goods and auditing procedures at the line maintenance stations. If there was something to be done Joe’s philosophy was "lead, follow, or get out of the way", because he would see it through.  His favorite saying was "get’r done".  He was a First Sergeant aka the "provider, disciplinarian and wise counselor". He served in the Army, Active Duty, National Guard/Field Artillery, and the Army Reserve. When he retired, he became First Sergeant of the planet.  Joe was a music lover and was a very accomplished classical Pianist who at one point could play all 30 pages of Rhapsody in Blue (Gershwin) flawlessly from memory. He was very humble regarding his musical talent and training.  He also enjoyed and spent countless hours tending to his large vegetable garden.  Joe was a great supporter of the Gary Sinise organization and Tunnel to Towers. He had a great respect for our military and first responders.  He was the type of man that if you were going to do something, you had to do it right.  He was very meticulous.  He did like to have fun even when he worked, so you could count on him for some sort of prank or a joke.

He was a wonderful provider and protector. He always wanted to take care of the ones he loved.