Joseph worked at the Birk Brothers Brewery Company delivering massive barrels of beer, first as a driver of a team of horses and wagon, and later as a truck driver. When prohibition became effective, the brewery converted to making ice for refrigeration purposes because electric refrigerators were not available at that time. As a result of working in this cold and damp climate, Joseph developed rheumatism so badly he had to quit. After a lapse of a few years of not working, he got a job as an employee of the 36th Ward Bureau of Sanitation until his retirement. 

Rose was brought to this country by one of her uncles by the name of Casper Muto, one of her mother's brothers. It is thought that Rose did not want to come to the States, but only did so after her father, Joseph Cairo was killed  in a train accident.