Joe was born in Burnside, Nova Scotia on January 24, 1944. He was the son of Frederick and Kathleen (Adams) Deluney. Joe grew up in Dartmouth and met Judie on a train to Montreal to compete in the Canadian Canoeing Championships. They were married September 26, 1964. Joe started his career in retail at the age of 15 starting with clothing and then into shoes. During his career in the shoe business he was transferred to Moncton, Newcastle, Fredericton and Toronto until 1979 when Joe opened his own business, Family Shoe Shoppe and moved his family to Sussex. When he retired in 2008, he closed all of his stores.