J.A. Tiberti Construction patriarch remembered for his contributions to Las Vegas community

J.A. Tiberti, a pillar in the Las Vegas construction industry and a civic leader, died early Wednesday morning following a "freak accident" at his home in Spanish Trail, his son said.

Tiberti, 87, was in excellent health and had shown up at the office Tuesday for a couple of meetings before going home in the afternoon to work out with his personal trainer at the Spanish Trail fitness center, his oldest son, Tito, said Wednesday.

"He went home and went out to get the mail and fell or whatever," Tito said. "My brother found him lying there with the mail on the ground. Somehow something happened."

The patriarch of Tiberti Construction was going "full bore" as usual on Tuesday, writing checks and paying bills, Tito said.

J.A. Tiberti came to Las Vegas from California in 1941 with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build the runway at what is now Nellis Air Force Base.

He formed Waale, Camplan and Tiberti Construction Co. in 1947 and developed Bonanza Village on Bonanza Road. He ventured out on his own in 1950.

Among his prominent works in Las Vegas are the Las Vegas Club, Palace Station, Sunset Station, Club Bingo (now the Sahara hotel), Barbary Coast, Gold Coast, The Orleans and Suncoast.

"It took me until about 1950 to realize this town had some real potential," Tiberti told the Review-Journal in 1977. "I knew then it would really grow, but I didn't realize just how amazingly fast it was going to happen."

Frank Martin, owner of Martin-Harris Construction, worked for Tiberti in 1970-71 and said the man was one of his major mentors when he started his own company in 1977.

"He made a couple of statements," Martin said. "He told me, 'In the construction business, the competition is really hard, Frank, but it's only hard for the first 40 hours of every week. After that, your competition goes home.' I'd go in and sit down with him now and then and just talk about business, the way he started out. You'd go in his office and see a picture of J.A. Tiberti in a pickup truck. That's how he started and that's how I started, too."

Martin said he spent about 20 minutes talking to Tiberti at the Associated General Contractors' Christmas party. "He was an awesome guy. The industry has really lost a cornerstone," he said.

Tiberti was definitely one of the pioneers who helped build Las Vegas into what it is today, former Gov. Bob Miller said.

"You can say that about a lot people who were here early on. In this instance, it's true literally and figuratively," Miller said. "He built schools, hospitals, hotels, public buildings. He was a great craftsman and he was a very benevolent member of society."

Tiberti was one of the more religious members of the Las Vegas Rotary, Miller said. He dedicated a room at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas alumni center to his wife, Marietta, who preceded him in death in 1987. He donated $1 million in 1979 to help create the College of Engineering at UNLV and built Camp Potosi for the Boy Scouts Boulder Dam Area Council.

He was appointed to the Las Vegas City Planning Commission in 1953 and served six consecutive four-year terms.

Miller, who used to sit with Tiberti at University of Nevada, Las Vegas basketball games, said he grew up with the Tiberti family since moving here in the 1950s. Tito was his best friend and J.A. Tiberti was "like a second father," he said.

"He was an incredible family man," Miller said. "He raised six children and was always doting. He was one of those individuals who will be sorely missed in this community."

Pat Mulroy, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, said she became close friends with Tiberti over 30 years of knowing him. They sat on committees for the Catholic Dioceses of Las Vegas and were involved at Bishop Gorman High School.

Tiberti sponsored a spelling bee for Catholic elementary schools in the area and would pay for the winner's tuition to Bishop Gorman.

"I've never met a kinder, more giving human being," Mulroy said. "As great as he was a pioneer, he never forgot about people in the community. Not only was he willing to donate money, but he gave up his time. When the history books look back on J.A., he will be remembered as one of the founding fathers of this community."

Bruce James, a Nevadan who is now the public printer of the United States, said Tiberti embodied the spirit of the state and the country.

"J.A.'s entrepreneurship and leadership have made an unforgettable difference in the daily lives of Nevadans everywhere," James said in a statement from Washington. "I am proud to have been able to call him my friend. He will be missed, but his spirit will live on in the many lives he has touched through his work in building schools, hotels, department stores and so many other community projects throughout Southern Nevada."

Jelindo Angelo Tiberti was born April 8, 1919, in Morley, Colo. His family moved to Detroit in 1934. He attended Kalamazoo College in Michigan from 1936-38 and went to engineering school at University of Southern California from 1938-40. He married his wife, Marietta, a nurse at Las Vegas Hospital, in 1943. The couple had six children.

Tiberti is survived by his sons, Tito, Renaldo, Mario and Jelindo; daughters, Laura and Andra; sister, Rosina Peterson of Santa Barbara, Calif.; 21 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

Visitation is scheduled for 4 p.m. Monday at Christ the King Catholic Community Church, 4925 S. Torrey Pines Drive, followed by prayer service at 6 p.m. Funeral Mass will be at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, also at the church.