Born March 15, 1923, in Seattle, Jack Conrad Anderson II spent his early years growing up in Seward and Seldovia, assisting his father, Jack Sr., with Anderson & Sons Transportation. The business carried passengers, freight and mail between Seldovia, Seward, the Aleutian chain and Anchorage. He was skipper on board the Princess Pat. He received his captain’s license at the age of 15, an accomplishment that put him in Robert Ripley’s Book of Records, according to his family. The family moved to Anchorage in 1938.
Jack married Lois Erickson in 1943. They had three children, John “Jack” C. Anderson III, Annalee, and Carl “Andy.” In their youth, the third-generation Anderson boys were rapidly indoctrinated into the tugboat business, and they also became licensed tugboat captains. Their sister, Annalee, married James Hill and also remained in Alaska.
Jack served in the Army’s Harbor Draft Detachment, Alaska Department, during the Aleutian campaign as chief warrant officer from 1942 to 1946. He received a Bronze Star and a World War II Victory medal. After the war, vowing never to return to sea again, Jack and his wife, Lois, moved to Seldovia. They built and operated the first movie theater, with theater seats and a popcorn machine. He served as mayor during the late 1940s.
Jack returned to the transportation business, starting Cook Inlet Tug & Barge. During this time he built Anderson dock, now a landmark on the Anchorage waterfront. He was instrumental in moving construction materials to the many DEW line sites around Alaska in the 1950s.
On October 19, 1964, two tankers, the Santa Maria, an American tanker, and the Sirrah, a Dutch tanker, collided off the Anchorage waterfront and burst into flames. The Sirrah was not badly damaged, but the Santa Maria became engulfed in seventy-foot high flames. The ill-fated Santa Maria was carrying a highly flammable cargo, mostly gasoline. Cook Inlet Tug & Barge regular crew members were off that day. Captain John “Jack” Jr. and his wife, Lois, were in the tug Westwind, which also caught fire. Lois took the controls while Jack put out the fire. They then went to the aid of the Santa Maria, which was drifting with the tide. Their seventeen-year old son, John C. “Jack” Anderson III, was in the Arctic Wind and rushed to the assistance of the Sirrah, getting some men off the ship. Captain “Jack” put the Westwind alongside the Santa Maria, turned the controls over to Lois, and assisted thirty-nine men off the burning tanker. The heat was so intense that the paint was blistering on the tug. All three members of the Anderson family received the Federal Maritime Administration’s Meritorious Service Medal. Members of the crew of the tanker, Santa Maria, were so grateful that they sent a letter to the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission. As a result, John “Jack” and Lois Anderson were awarded Carnegie Hero Fund silver medals. Their son, John “Jack” Anderson III, was awarded a bronze medal and a scholarship.[8]
In the early 1970s, Jack along with several partners, founded Alaska Geophysical. The business pioneered water exploration of the Prudhoe Bay oil fields. Semi-retiring in the late ’70s, Jack split his time between Seattle and Anchorage.
Jack died on July 16, 1994 in Seattle. His ashes were returned to the waters of Cook Inlet, which he loved and where he spent much of his life.