Iriville Kenneth (Kenny) Sanders graduated high school in 1924 and went to work for US Steel in San Francisco. He started as "hall boy," earning $14 a week, and progressed to "mail clerk" in 1925. Each day, he and a buddy commuted on the Key System Ferry across the bay from Oakland to San Francisco. In April of 1925, while on the ferry, they both saw the first of the Alaska Packers Star Fleet and decided to sign on with the fleet despite their mothers’ objection. Both mothers were widows and wanted their boys at home, but various family members persuaded the mothers to let the boys go.

Three days later, the boys sailed on the Star of Falkland, boarding the ship at the lower end of California Street in San Francisco. Their salary was $50 per month. They sailed to Alaska and worked in the cannery for the summer. They returned home 3 months and 27 days later. Upon returning, Kenny worked in Oakland for four years at the Lincoln Car Agency. He then worked four years with the Automatic Canteen Co. of America, still in Oakland. In October 1937 he began working for Shields Harper & Co. He remained with them until his retirement in 1970. He was married in 1941.