Fred Machetanz first came to Alaska in 1935, spending two years in Unalakleet. He left for New York, only to request service with the U.S. Navy in the Aleutians, returning to Alaska in 1942.

After WWII, Machetanz returned to Unalakleet in 1946. Eventually, he settled in the farming community of Palmer, where he died at the age of 94, in 2002.