When Joseph Clarence Arave was born on 14 September 1891, in Taylor-Idaho Falls, Bingham, Idaho, United States, his father, David Eli Arave, was 29 and his mother, Mary Ann Fowles, was 19. He married Rhoda Elvera Peterson on 2 April 1913, in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States. They were the parents of at least 2 sons and 5 daughters. He lived in Presto, Bingham, Idaho, United States in 1900. He died on 25 June 1982, in Idaho Falls, Bonneville, Idaho, United States, at the age of 90, and was buried in Idaho Falls, Bonneville, Idaho, United States.