For most of the year, Deacon Dan Welter serves as chancellor of the Archdiocese of Chicago, but for a few weeks leading up to Christmas, he sheds that role and dons a red suit and white beard to play Santa at Macy’s on State and Randolph streets in downtown Chicago. 

He was recruited to play Santa by Jim Roetheli, who played Santa at Marshall Field’s and Macy’s for more than 30 years. Roetheli, who died in April, worked as a receptionist at St. Gertrude Parish in Edgewater where Welter served as a deacon. 

“We got to talking about Santa one day and he said, ‘You’d make a good Santa. Can I recommend you?’” Welter recalled while sitting in his office at the Quigley Pastoral Center, 835 N. Rush St., wearing red suspenders and a green and black tie with images of Santa on it. 

That was four “seasons” ago. Welter, who also serves as a deacon at Holy Name Cathedral, now works all of the meals with Santa at the store, which is dinner Friday night and breakfast Saturday and Sunday mornings. Other Santas work in the store’s “Santaland.”

What makes a good Santa, according to Welter?

“Part of it is to be child-like yourself, not childish — to see this, in many ways, through the eyes of this child coming to you where they believe in the magic and you want to make sure that magic is never abused,” Welter said, with tears in his eyes and moved by emotion. “You listen to them, you hear their secrets and you hope that they will carry away a really good memory.”

It also takes patience and a jolly attitude.

“They have to know that they are always on the good list, that they are loved,” he said.  

All of Macy’s Santas wear the same costume as the Santa seen at the end of the store’s annual Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. Macy’s pay their Santas a little above minimum wage but Welter says he would pay them for the privilege to be Santa. The people at Macy’s don’t refer to the Santas by their real names. Welter is just Santa Dan to them. 

The children make requests “from the sublime to the ridiculous and to the very poignant,” Welter said. The kids will ask for almost every toy imaginable or something as simple as a yo-yo. 

“One little boy wanted crime scene tape. I think his father was a detective,” he said. 

A request last year that touched Welter came from a little girl who asked for a mug that said, “World’s Best Mom.” 

“I suggested that maybe she should ask one of the big kids at home to help her with that gift, but she told me there were no big kids at home. There was just her and Mom,” Welter said, visibly moved again. “So I talked to Mom to make sure that that gift would be there. She cried and I cried.” 

Children’s reactions to seeing Santa often depend upon their age. Little children are frequently scared of Santa because he’s a large person in a big red outfit whom their parents hand them to and walk away, he said.

“By the time they are about 3 and 4 they begin to understand who you are and that you are a symbol of goodness. They come running up to you then and want to hug you. It’s wonderful to have that kind of affirmation,” Welter said.

When asked if he’s the real Santa, Welter says he turns it around and asks the child what they think. 

“Their answers are amazing and, generally, they come around to the point where they say, ‘You probably are.’”

Before he puts on the suit and becomes Santa, Welter said he spends some time reflecting on the privilege it is to be Santa and prays for the children he will meet. 

“What it does, in many ways, it restores for me the essentials of Christmas — families coming together, celebrating the season, the children with their anticipation of all of this.”

Santa’s origins come from St. Nicholas, whose feast day is celebrated Dec. 6. St. Nicholas of Myra was a bishop who lived in Turkey around A.D. 280 and reportedly used his inheritance to help the poor. Legend has it that three times he dropped a bag of money through the window of a father’s home to anonymously provide dowries for the three daughters. 

The spirit of St. Nicholas resonates throughout the season. 

“It’s about love. It’s about hope. It’s about being nice,” Welter said. “Our St. Nicholas was someone who, by legend, helped people out when they were in a place where they couldn’t help themselves. These children, many of them have means, some have no means, but they have hope and that’s what the season is about.”

Welter’s wife, Martha, was on hand for her husband’s appearance at dinner with Santa on Dec. 15 and said she wasn’t surprised when her husband took on the role.

“I always thought he was perfect for it,” she said. “He was always very good at advancing the story of Santa. It’s the joy of his season. He absolutely loves it.”

“If he couldn’t do it, he probably would have a very depressing season,” Martha Welter said, laughing. “It’s tiring but he just loves talking to the kids. He has great stories.”