Son of Jan (John) Palivec and Anna Trcka.

Josef Palivec was born in Drahlin #43, a house in Drahlin, Příbram District, (20 miles from Prague), Central Bohemia, Austria-Hungary, on August 20, 1903. His great, great, great grandfather on his mother's side was Franz Joseph of Austria. On Mar 20, 1913, he departed Bremen, Germany for the USA on the ship Chemnitz, a part of the North German Lloyd Line. At the age of 9, Josef arrived in Philadelphia with his parents and seven siblings on April 4, 1913.

Before his employment in a print shop as an electrotyper, Joseph drove cattle through Cleveland, operated an elevator, and shoveled coal to basements. At age 22, he married Theresa Andrews, 19, in the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church on May 26, 1926. Joseph was naturalized as a U.S. citizen on October 5, 1928. Joseph and Theresa had three children, Louise, Virginia, and Nancy between 1930 and 1937. They lived in a home at 16175 Libby Road, Maple Heights, Ohio, near Cleveland, until 1945. Joseph and Theresa divorced on August 30, 1948, after 22 years of marriage.

On September 4, 1948, Joseph married Irene Roxbury, also previously married, at the Solon Community Church, Solon, OH. They lived in Bedford, Ohio, at 74 Ennis Ave. They had no children of their own.

Joseph was employed by Art's Electro-Typer and worked as an electrotyper for 40 years.

With the help of his daughters in 1985, Joseph moved to Thousand Oaks, California. He was a grandfather of seven and a great grandfather of ten.

He lived with his daughter, Nancy, and her family while his wife, Irene, received care in a convalescent hospital nearby. A few years later, Irene died and Joseph's health deteriorated to the point that he required admission to the same convalescent hospital.

Joseph died August 16, 1988 at the age of 84, in Thousand Oaks, California. He was buried at Conejo Mountain Memorial Park in Camarillo, California.