ongtime Anchorage resident Delbert Cederberg, 89, died November 11, 2021, of natural causes surrounded by his loving wife of sixty years, Elaine Cederberg, and children, Arthur Cederberg and Elisa Stewart.
Cederberg was born December 20, 1931, in Manhattan, Kansas, to Arthur and Bessie Cederberg, growing up on their family farm. Working on his relatives’ farms over the years and starting a steel-tank fabricating business, he married Elaine Mateus on June 23, 1961, in Rockford, Illinois, and then headed west to San Diego. He worked in the shipyards for a short time, then moved to Seattle and worked at Boeing.
In 1963 Delbert and Elaine drove to Alaska, where he first worked for Industrial Air Products and was a member of the Anchorage Volunteer Fire Department. He tried his hand in other companies until he purchased Alcraft, a small welding shop, in 1974. He later changed the name to Allied Steel Construction, Inc., a family business that his son, Arthur Cederberg, now runs and maintains, with the strong business practices Delbert Cederberg instilled in him, along with Delbert Cederberg’s grandchildren Gage, Jake, Shilo, and Delbert and daughter-in-law Sasha.
Over the course of 47 years in business his company built several buildings—hotels, office buildings, shopping centers, banks, and houses—around Anchorage and throughout the state of Alaska. Cederberg was a valuable participant in many welding and steel fabrication projects around the Anchorage area, most notably animal cages for various exhibits at the Alaska Zoo and the Karl Eid Ski Jump at Hilltop Ski Area. Delbert Cederberg was involved in fabricating twenty-nine public art sculptures. Some well-known art projects include the massive “Transition” sculpture at the entrance of the George M. Sullivan Sports Arena, the Fairview Neighborhood sign, and the stainless-steel Ice Fountain sculpture at the Loussac Library. Delbert Cederberg contributed to the welding projects and needs of the Anchorage Ski Club at Arctic Valley and also received the Governor’s Arts and Humanities Award in Arts Business Leadership in 2018. He was a longtime AGC member.