Born at Great Neck, New York, the son of businessman and Mayor of New York City, William Russell Grace. In 1908 he married Janet Macdonald, the daughter of Charles B. Macdonald, a major figure in early American golf who built the first 18-hole course in the United States.
Joseph Grace graduated from Columbia University.
She died on December 31, 1937 at age fifty-three.
A polo player, in 1911 Joseph Grace purchased a 198-acre (080 km2) estate in the Lakeville district of Long Island from Almeric H. Paget, son-in-law of William Collins Whitney. He would acquire a stable of polo ponies as well as Thoroughbreds used in Point to point steeplechase events.
On the death of William R. Grace in 1904, Edward Eyre, company secretary and director, was appointed president of West. R. Grace and Company.
In 1907, Eyre was made company chairman and Joseph Grace became president The West. R. Grace company"s business centered on operations in Peru and surrounding South American countries.
To enhance that, in 1914 Joseph Grace established Grace National Bank, a New York City private bank that concentrated on business done in South America. In 1945, Joseph Grace suffered a debilitating stroke and in 1946 both he and Doctorate. Stewart Iglehart retired.
Joseph Grace died in 1950 at his home in Great Neck, New New York
