Joseph M. Pallissard was born in St. Anne, Illinois, on 4 January 1886. He left his family farm in 1913 to take up aviation at Cicero Field in Chicago, and later formed a partnership called the Pallissard School of Aviation. In June 1915 he built his own aircraft and soloed for the first time. As a civilian pilot he helped fly one of the first twenty Curtiss JN-4 "Jennies" to Chanute Field in July 1917. After World War I he was sent to France to help bring a French bomber back to the United States for testing and evaluation. A few years before his death in May 1960 he received his civilian pilot's license.