illiam Enatti came to Alaska in 1911, two years after he emigrated from Oulu, Finland, where he was born in 1886. He first lived in Douglas, and was employed with the Treadwell Mine and the A. J. Mine in Juneau. In 1912, he and Emma Wirkkala were married in Juneau. Emma, born in Kaustinen, Finland in 1882, had immigrated to the United States in 1911. In 1917, the Enattis moved to Anchorage and then to the Jonesville-Eska coal mining area of the Matanuska Valley.

After a short time, the family returned to Anchorage, where William was employed by the Alaska Railroad as a carpenter until his retirement in 1949. In his retirement, he was self-employed as a carpenter, doing work for local residents. William was also an avid skier, and he and Emma were active in the Suomi (Finland) Club, Anchorage’s oldest ethnic social club. At the time of his death, William was the most senior member of the Moose Lodge, which he had joined in 1914.

William and Emma had two daughters. Helve, born in 1917, was a teacher and was not married. She passed away in 1978. Sigrid, born in 1918, married George Karabelnikoff, and they had three sons; F. Lee, Don G. and Ken W. William Enatti passed away in 1957, and Emma died in 1970. William, Emma and their daughter Helve are all buried in the Pioneer Tract, Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery.