Joseph George Sobek was born 5 April 1918, in Greenwich, Connecticut and was raised there. He served in the Marines and later became a police detective. Until he retired in 1985, he had spent most of his life as a tennis and squash racquets professional at the Greenwich Country Club. He died of congenital heart disease March 27, 1998. Sobek was the first person inducted into the Racquetball Hall of Fame.