Joel Katz was born and raised in Detroit. He is a graduate of Mumford High School and Wayne State University and a Vietnam veteran.  He is a Master Plumber and Mechanical Contractor who owned and operated his family business, Al’s Plumbing and Heating Co., for more than 40 years.

Joel speaks Yiddish, enjoys spending time in his garden, fishing, and kvells over watching his grandchildren pick tomatoes in the backyard. Joel has been married to his wife, Diana for 47 years. Their three children and five grandchildren bring them much nachas.

The award winning digital series Coming of Age from Silver Screen Studios and Reboot returns for a second season to feature profiles of an incredible group of older Detroiters, sharing the outrageously colorful stories of entrepreneur Larry Mongo, owner of Cafe D'Mongos Speakeasy in Downtown Detroit, the philanthropy of Max Fisher family scion and matriarch Jane Sherman, a vivid oral history of the Cass Corridor arts scene in the 1970s by legendary artist Nancy Mitchnick, the transformative work of Restoration Arts Theater founder Dr. James Allen Jones, who sought to bring Shakespeare education to students of color, and the witty insights of Joel Katz, successor to a multi-generational plumbing business that saved many during Detroit’s harsh winters.

“As our world continues to adjust to social, political and cultural change, the wisdom, gratitude and optimism of the older Detroit icons and everyday heroes featured in Coming of Age: Detroit offers invaluable insights for audiences of all ages,” said Noam Dromi, managing director of Reboot Studios and co-creator of Silver Screen Studios. “The seniors of the Metro Detroit area have remained models of resilience, creativity and reinvention, as adaptable to change as the Motor City itself. We are thrilled to capture their stories that are as entertaining as any Hollywood movie and offer historical context and legacy for generations to come.”