While piano tuning and re-finishing was the main profession of Del Sheriff, his interest in photography is evident by the number of photographs he produced. Sheriff probably arrived in Alaska around 1921, traveling continually from Ketchikan to Nome for his work and photographing what he viewed. Many of the photographs, some hand-tinted, were sold to local curio shops. His wife, Carrie, whom he married August 1, 1908, and children Rita and James visited him in Alaska in 1928. He left Alaska in 1929 on the ship Northwestern to join his family.

Rita Pierce of Montesano, Washington, wrote "Since Dad was an experienced re-finisher, he was once asked to re-do a lovely old bar at the Nordale Hotel in Fairbanks. He told me that when President Harding was visiting the Nordale, he personally complimented Dad on the bar's beautiful finish.”

Sheriff was born March 3, 1885 at Omaha, Nebraska. He died of flu and pneumonia on February 18, 1978 in the State of Washington. Carrie M. Sheriff died a few days later on February 21, 1978. She was born December 3, 1891 in Castroville, California.