Joe S. Frank was born November 14, 1942, in Buxton Hospital, Newport News, Virginia, the son of Dorothy Lilyan Morewitz Frank and Harry Frank. Harry operated a dry cleaning equipment and repair business. Harry's parents, Nettie and Joe Frank, operated a dry cleaning plant in the 300 block of 26th Street in downtown Newport News.  Samuel and Rachel Morewitz operated a shoe repair shop in the 300 block of 27th Street. Joe has one brother, Robert P. Frank, now a Judge for the Virginia Court of Appeals.

Joe attended the original Jefferson Elementary School, then the "new" Jefferson Elementary School, in the second and third grades, Walter Reed Elementary School on Wickham Avenue, and Newport News High School from which he graduated in 1960.

At age 11, he joined the Boy Scouts, moving through the ranks quite rapidly, ultimately becoming an Eagle Scout. He also served in numerous leadership positions in the Scouts, rising to Senior Patrol Leader and Assistant Scout Master.

While in high school, Joe was very active in numerous school organizations, including the Speech Arts Club, the National Honor Society, and the Key Club, and was elected President of each group. He was an announcer for the Typhoon Marching Band and held various positions in the Student Council Association. He participated in many speaking and writing contests and earned State-wide recognition in connection with those. He was also President of the Young Leadership Council of the Jewish Community.

In the fall of 1960, he continued his education at the University of Virginia where he was an active member of Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity, the Jefferson Society, and numerous other student organizations. He was honored by the University by being selected to live on the Range, in a room next to the one that had, in generations earlier, been occupied by Edgar Allen Poe. He was also honored by his fraternity with its highest national award for leadership and community service. He was on the University Honor's Program concentrating in foreign affairs and political science and received his Bachelor of Arts degree with Honors in 1964.

Joe then attended the University of Virginia Law School. During this time he interned at the prestigious Charlottesville, Richmond, and Washington law firm of Battle, Neal, Harris, Minor and Williams, a firm headed by former Virginia Governor John Battle. He graduated with an LLB degree in June, 1967.

Following graduation, he returned to Newport News to practice law with the late Frank Pitchford. He was admitted to the Bar in 1967 and has been a practicing attorney on the Peninsula and in Newport News ever since. His primary areas of practice include personal injury,  corporate and business law, wills, estates, trusts, and condemnation law. He is a member of the Newport News and Virginia Bar Associations.

During the early years of his career, he continued his lifetime interest in community service. He chaired the Newport News Democratic Committee and was an early chairman of the Oyster Point Development Corporation. During his tenure, a master plan was instituted, initial financing was arranged and the beginning of development was achieved. He served as legal officer of the Hampton Roads Jaycees and participated in many of their projects.

Joe also was heavily involved in the Jewish community, becoming president of the Jewish Federation of the Virginia Peninsula, as well as President of his synagogue, Rodef Sholom Temple. The Jewish community recognized his service and leadership by awarding him both the Theodore Beskin Scholarship Award and the Emmanuel Greenspon Young Leadership Award.

From 1968 through 1974, he was a member of the 4th Battalion 111th Artillery of the Virginia Army National Guard.

In 1988, Joe Frank was elected to the Newport News City Council, a position to which he has been reelected since. He served as Vice Mayor from 1988 to 1990, and again in 1996. He currently holds the position of Mayor of the City of Newport News, having been elected in May 1996 and re-elected in May 1998, 2002, and 2006. He was the first directly elected Mayor in the City's history.

Joe is married to Jane Susan Glasser Frank. Their family includes daughter, Shelly Ann Currin, her husband, Douglas Currin, and their children, Justin and Jessica; daughter, Melissa Jean Clagg, her husband, Jeffrey Clagg, their sons, Brooks and Bryce, and daughter, Madison; and a son, Jason G. Frank, his wife, Jennifer Ritko Frank, and their daughter, Sydney, and son, Carson.