fter a tour as a seaman on a whaling ship in the Aleutian Islands, Moritz A. Andresen came ashore in Anchorage in 1921. He first went to search for gold in the Cache Creek area. After his sojourn in the mining district, he moved to Anchorage. First, he took a job with the Brown and Hawkins Company, then he moved on to the Alaska Transfer Company and the Berger Transportation Company. Brother Clark Andresen, born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1904, came from Seattle, Washingtin to join Moritz in Anchorage in 1922. Clark graduated from Anchorage High School with the Class of 1925 and went on to establish a family, whose history is recorded under his name.

In 1925, Moritz met and married Decema Kimball, the daughter of Anchorage pioneer Irving Kimball, who had operated Kimball’s Dry Goods store at the corner of 5th Avenue and E Street until his death in 1921. His widow, Della, continued to operate the store. Decema and Moritz Andresen had two sons, Carl and Alfred. Moritz joined the Anchorage Volunteer Fire Department and was the driver of the truck for many years. He served on the City Council from 1937 to 1944. Civic-minded, Moritz volunteered his knowledge and assistance whenever needed, and was a major player in the development years of Anchorage. He passed away in 1948, and is buried in the Masonic Tract, Anchorage Memorial Park. In 1950, a widow herself, Decema joined her mother in operating Kimball’s Dry Goods.

Decema Andresen learned to fly in 1950 at the age of forty-four. She obtained a commercial license, but did no commercial flying. In 1962, she went on a polar bear hunt and successfully shot a record-size bear out on the polar ice. She flew her own plane out on the ice into “tomorrow” across the international date line, shot the bear, and returned “today.” She continued to be involved in the operation of Kimball’s Dry Good until her death in 2002.

Moritz and Decema’s son Carl Andresen married Eloise Beilefeld in 1965, and they raised three sons and one daughter: Carl Robert, L. William, V. Richard and Kimball Rose. Son Alfred never married and passed away in 1995.