Not very many residents of Lincoln County can say, “I live in the same house I was born in.”  John Tibbetts is the only person in Caliente who can say just that. Not only can he say that, but he is also the oldest living resident with such a high distinction. 

John Tibbetts was born in 1941 and grew up in Caliente with his three older brothers in the residence where he was born, until after he graduated high school in 1959. After graduation, he moved to Elko, Nevada. He first worked at a gas station, where a beautiful lady named Mira would walk past his station. After Mira and John dated, fell in love and married in 1969, he got a job at the Boys School in Elko. The Tibbetts family of then two daughters moved back to Caliente when John transferred to the (then) Caliente Girls facility in 1971 when their youngest daughter was two years old. He moved and took ownership of the original house he was born in. The home was originally just a basement-like structure. John and his family built up the house, where they raised their children, and the family still calls it home today. John and Mira now have six children, having the last girl and three boys in Caliente, and many grandchildren. 

John retired from the (now) Caliente Youth Center after 35 years of service. 

The kids of John and Mira Tibbets would tell you, “My dad never complains! Through health concerns and age, he just keeps going!”

John Tibbetts is a longtime member of the Caliente Volunteer Fire Department and still attends their weekly meetings. He is an avid bottle collector; he collects Nevada Trade Tokens and loves to trap and hunt. 

His lifelong friend Tommy Rowe has been his next-door neighbor for many years and still is to this day.