Joseph Marino was born October 1867 in Santa Margerita, Palermo, Sicily, Italy. He emigrated to the United States, coming through the Port of New York, in 1887.

In 1892 he married Carmela Buzzanga, who had also emigrated from Santa Margerita. Over the next 20 years they had 10 children, two of whom were born in Italy and the remainder in Brooklyn, New York.

Joseph died in Brooklyn, New York in 1923, at the age of 56.