Edward Tyau grew up in Monterey Park, California, where he met his future wife, Julie. They met in high school, dated throughout college and married in 1985. He graduated from Yale University, did his residency at Northwestern University and started in general surgery at Kaiser Permanente in Riverside. He spent his entire career there, including more than a decade as chief of surgery, before retiring in 2019 just before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Together, Edward and Julie had two kids — Chris and Nicole, who combined have given him five grand-cats and one grand-dog. With their empty nest, Edward and Julie now care for three cats and one dog in addition to each other.