From a family of immigrant coal miners, he was raised in Sesser, Illinois.
A congratulatory resolution passed by the Illinois House of Representatives recounts that, at age he and his future wife, Connie, obtained their social security cards together so they could go to work at the summer camp for disabled children at Giant City State Park in Carbondale.
[5] After graduating from Sesser High School, Cavaletto went on to earn his bachelor's and master's degrees in education at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
John became a teacher and basketball coach—taking the Breese Mater Dei High School basketball team to the Illinois State Championships and leading that team to 4th Place in the very competitive big schools division of Illinois in 1974.
[10] After Granberg declined to run for reelection in 2008, Caveletto defeated Democratic candidate and Marion County Treasurer Patti Hahn for the seat.