My Father, Santa Claus

My dad was a corpsman in the Navy and served with the Marines during Vietnam. After 20 years of service, he retired from the Navy and went back to school to become an electrician. He retired a second time, this time as an electrician. In retirement is where he found his true calling.

He decided to work as a greeter at K-Mart, and one November, he was asked if he would like to be Santa Claus--the answer was a clear and resounding “yes.”

My dad was a natural Santa. He had a real beard, a belly and a twinkle in his blue eyes. He loved children and didn’t mind when a curious child pulled on his beard to see if it was real.

He loved being Santa. He would start growing his beard longer in August and would have it dyed white before Thanksgiving. My mom even made him the perfect Santa suit.

But my dad was more than just a department store Santa; he would visit hospitals and orphanages whenever he wasn’t at the store. My mom also made a Mrs. Claus suit and would accompany him side-by-side to spread Christmas joy. Our entire family jumped in to help during the holiday season making hundreds of teddy bears and baking thousands of Christmas cookies. My dad’s biggest triumph was when he got to be Santa in the Christmas Parade in Columbus, Ohio.

After my son was born, my dad would send him presents and always signed his name as Santa Claus. When my son was younger and his friends would ask if he believed in Santa, he would always smile and say “Yes, I know Santa and he is real.”

When my father passed away in the beginning of November, 2006 I placed his Santa hat with him and had the funeral director dye his hair and beard so he would always be Santa.

The Christmas after my dad passed away, I didn’t feel like celebrating Christmas, so my husband placed a Santa hat on our tree instead of our normal tree topper. It made me feel better so now it has become a tradition to place a Santa hat on the tree and place a new Santa ornament on the tree each year.  

So if you ask me if I believe in Santa Claus; I will smile and say “Yes, Santa was my dad.”

Vickie Rotkovich

lives in Colorado with her husband, son and two dogs. She served ten years in the US Army which is where she met her husband. She works as an Executive Assistant and in her free time enjoys the outdoors, doing cross stitching and crossword puzzles.