John was the third son of Leonora Adelia Field Gribble(1859-1931) and William Henry Harrison Gribble(1859-1908). He was raised on the 320-acre Gribble Ranch in Dunlap before his mother removed him and his siblings to Fresno after 1905. He worked as a farm laborer on his mother's 10-acre tree fruit farm and also on the Gribble Ranch during his summer months until the ranch was sold in December 1915.
At the age of 14, John was diagnosed with psychosis and then committed to the Stockton State Hospital for the Insane in 1911. After being discharged in 1914, Johnnie continued to get into trouble and was sent to the Preston School of Industry(state reform school) outside of Ione in Amador county and was there for two years. After returning to Fresno, John still was found wandering into trouble and was picked up by the Fresno authorities. Once again, he was sent to the Stockton State Hospital for the Insane. He was now 6' 1" and 230 lbs., young and strong. He could work hard and ran teams of horses to farm the Hospital's farms and ranches. Still, he would have bouts with his demons who spoke to him about the threat of consumption(tuberculosis) and how the authorities were out to get him. He would be 'paroled' to his family several times, but would never completely free himself of the mental problems that would seem to always follow him. Now a man 6' 3" tall, and sometimes over 300 lbs., but with a mind of a 10-year old(but completing sixth grade and having a mind for figures), he might wander off the Hospital campus or ranch and walk into town. Nonetheless, he would always return to the Hospital. There he lived out the rest of his life until he died of heat exhaustion and exhaustion from excitement. His sister, Clara, had John's body returned to Fresno for burial by J.N. Lisle & Co. on July 3, 1934.