Joe Kiely was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut in a family of Irish imigrents.He attended Saint Augustine School and was a baseball pitcher and banjo player.He enlisted in the U S Army at Fort Slokum,New York at the start of World War One and rose quickly to the rank of Sergeant. He served in France near Chalon-sur-Mame in the 648th Aero Squadron. He participated in the Saint Mihiel offensive 12 to 16 September 1918 and the Meuse-Argonne offensive 26 September to 11 November 1918. At the end of the war he was Honorably Discharged on 17 June 1919 at Mitchel Field Long Island, New York. His service number was 2349630. He received compensation from the Veterans Administration for a service connected disability.
Joe then worked in the Plumbing and Heating business for Crane Company in Bridgeport and became a star pitcher on the company baseball team. He was a Knight of the Fourth Degree in the Knights of Columbus and received the Sword that goes with that high rank. He married Florence McCarthy of Danbury, Connecticut and raised a family of two boys. Joe had asthma and was told to move south for his health so he moved to the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area where he got ajob with the Hajoca Corporation another wholesale plumbing and heating company. He remained with Hajoca Corporation for the rest of his over 50 year career most of which was as the Manager of the Lansdowne Branch in Lansdowne, PA,a Philadelphia suburb,and retired in 1970.