Joe Serra was born and educated in Detroit, Michigan. He served in Korea in 1950-51 as a Navy medical corpsman and then obtained his pre-med at Albion College and his MD from Wayne State Medical School, graduating in 1960. He interned at the Los Angeles County Hospital and returned to Wayne State University for his residency in Orthopedic Surgery. He and his wife, Dorothy, moved to Stockton in 1966, where Joe entered private practice and co-founded the Stockton Orthopedic Medical Group in 1970. His special interest has been sports medicine, and he has served as orthopedic team physican for the University of the Pacific, the Milwaukee Brewer farm system, and the Stockton Ports baseball team. Joe joined the Rotary Club of Stockton in 1977, serving as President in 1990-91. He served as Governor of District 5220 in 1994-95. He has also served as National Advisor to the Permanent Fund Initiative, a member of the International PolioPlus Committee and the National PolioPlus Speaker's Bureau and a Zone Coordinator for the Partnering Task Force. He was a training leader in the 1999 International Assembly in Anaheim.

Joe has served the Rotary Foundation as a volunteer orthopedic surgeon in Malawi Africa, on four different occasions, primarily performing surgery on polio victims called "crawlers." He has received the Rotary Foundation Citation for Meritorious Service, The President's Citation, the Service Above Self Award, and the Foundation PlioPlus Pioneer Award. Joe and Dorothy represented Rotary International in Liberia, Africa, during the first National Immunization Days in January 1999.

Joe has served his community on several boards, including Goodwill Industries and UOP Athletic Foundation. He is also a member of many medical societies and international organizations and was named "Stocktonian of the Year" in 1987, which he attributes to Rotary's prominent identity in his community.

Joe and Dorothy have two sons and two grandchildren. Joe's favourite activities include skiing, mountaineering, travel, photography and giving slide presentations about Rotary's legacy to the world....the eradication of polio.