L. Joseph Smith was born and raised on a small working farm in central Ohio. Upon graduation from high school, he joined the United States Navy. He served first as a hospital corpsman, then training as a rescue swimmer. He continued his military career requesting training as an Air Traffic Controller and served for 16 years before being military medical retired. He graduated from Southern Illinois University, with a Bachelor of Science, in Health Care Administration. Owned and operated V-Care, Inc. for 18 years caring for disabled veterans.