At the age of 23, after 18 months of service in the Spanish Army in Donosti, Jose Mari wrote to an uncle in Boise for help in coming to the United States.  Shortly afterward, he left his home and traveled to the US under a sheepherding contract.  He worked for Wilbur Wilson in Hammett, Idaho for four years, then for the sawmill in Mountain Home for a year.  Jose Mari met Miren Rementeria at a Basque picnic in Mountain Home in 1970, and saw her again at the Basque Center in Boise in 1972.  They married in 1974, and settled in Boise to raise their two sons.

Jose Mari started his own hay trucking company in 1975, and bought properties later on.  He has his hands full with his enterprises today, but makes time for his family and social events in the Basque community.