Jewel Maynard Viot was born on August 18, 1931, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Maynard married Sidney on July 12, 1955, and they had three children: Barbara, David, and Carol.

Viot served in the United States Army. Viot also earned a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering. He worked at General Electric for 22 years. He was a senior engineering specialist at Edgerton, Germeshausen, and Grier (EG&G) for 21 years.