In remembrance of a special Santa
In this 2012 photo, Ed Zeglen, dressed as Santa Claus, poses with Greene County native Elissa McCracken, who had won the crown of Miss Ohio during a pageant earlier that year, during the Holiday Open House in Waynesburg. Zeglen, who passed away on Dec. 8, had devoted 43 years of his life to bringing joy and happiness as Santa.
Ed Zeglen, as Santa, waves enthusiastically to children while sitting next to his wife, “Sandy Claus,” during the 2012 Waynesburg Christmas Parade.
CLARKSVILLE — More than four decades ago, Ed Zeglen of Clarksville donned a borrowed Santa Claus outfit and entertained the youngsters in the newly formed Greene Valley Youth Activities, which he co-founded.
That marked the start of a 43-year-long devotion to bringing joy and happiness to children as well as adults by portraying the jolly bearded man in the red and white suit in the tri-state area.
Sadly, that tradition ended on Dec. 8 when Zeglen passed away unexpectedly at the age of 76.
During each Christmas season, Zeglen played Santa as many as 25 to 30 times at nursing homes, fire halls, elementary schools, private homes and children’s hospitals. For years, he was a special guest as Santa in the Waynesburg Christmas Parade until COPD, a chronic lung disease that makes breathing difficult, brought further participation to a halt.
Three years ago, however, he made an appearance at the Holiday Open House and Christmas Parade in Waynesburg. Last year, the Waynesburg Area Chamber of Commerce presented him with a Special Distinguished Service Award for his participation in these holiday events.
“Over the years, Ed bought three Santa Claus suits — two lighter ones for inside appearance and a heavier one for outdoors,” said his wife Sandy. “He loved children and always carried a rubber nose which he put on one of the kids and sang ‘Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer.'”
More than just sit with children and listening to their wish lists, Zeglen conducted a 20- to 30-minute long program that began with the telling of the first Christmas, then had his audience sing “Happy Birthday” to the newborn Jesus. Sometimes, organizations like the Clarksville Fire Department would bring out a cake decorated with lit candles.
For his appearances, he never took money for himself but donated any proceeds to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Mother’s Hope Foundation, an organization who provides emotional and financial assistance to families with children stricken by cancer.
Mrs. Zeglen remembers a child by the name of Mallory, a girl about the age of seven who had cancer and was brought to the couple’s attention by Mother’s Hope. About 10 years after her husband first put on a Santa outfit, Sandy decided to join him by becoming Sandy Claus.
“The Foundation gave us a bag of toys to give Mallory,” she said. “She was very glad to get them and loved having Santa there. When we were getting ready to leave we heard her tell her Dad that ‘everyone gets to see Santa, but no one gets to see Mrs. Claus.’ We were both so affected we almost burst into tears. Unfortunately, Mallory died on Christmas Eve that same year.”
When Mrs. Zeglen started to play Sandy Claus, she said she had a special dress made which she took to a factory in Belle Vernon to have them make a similar one. With her new attire, she usually went with Mr. Zeglen whenever and wherever he went. For two or three years, they were joined by their grandson, Edward of Mather, who went along as an elf. However, two years ago, Mrs. Zeglen had to forestall any additional participation as Sandy Claus when she developed “bad ankles.”
Born on Oct. 10, 1939 in Royal, Mr. Zeglen was a 1957 graduate of Redstone High School and a 1961 graduate of Penn State University with a bachelor of science degree in business administration. For three years after graduating, he served as an accountant for the state auditor general’s office in Harrisburg.
Wanting to return home to Greene County to be close to his parents and in-laws, he became the business manager for a youth development center, later named the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections in Waynesburg, from which he retired after 40 years. He and Sandy also had their own accounting and income tax practice for 50 years.
In the 1970s, Mr. Zeglen was a co-founder and president of Greene Valley Youth Activities, organized to support the little league for girls but which also formed girls softball and cheerleader leagues and initiated grade school basketball at Jefferson-Morgan for boys and girls. The group also organized bicycle runs as a fundraiser for St. Jude’s Hospital.
Mr. Zeglen was a member of Knights of Columbus Waynesburg Council 12703 and National Society of Tax Professionals. He also taught defensive driving for the AARP in Greene County and delivered Meals On Wheels for several years.
He was also an avid Penn State football fan from the time that Joe Paterno was an assistant until today. He and Sandy had season tickets for over 20 years and also enjoyed watching the Pirates and Steelers.
This year, Mr. Zeglen had 14 scheduled appearances to play Santa. On Dec. 7, he visited as Santa the First Christian Church in Uniontown and friend Ron Ferek’s house in Carmichaels, where he met with his children and grandchildren.
“The next morning, he arose at 6 a.m. as usual and put his sleep apnea mask on his dresser,” Mrs. Zeglen said. “I then heard a thump and found him lying head down on the floor. He was (airlifted) to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, he died there at 10 a.m. that same day.”
Ferek said Mr. Zeglen had been Santa to his children almost every Christmas season for 35 years. He’d pick up little gifts Ferek left for the children on the porch and give them to them. Someone would play the piano and the entire family would sing “Silent Night.”
“He meant so much to our Christmas tradition, and we’ll really miss him next Christmas,” Ferek said. “I was privileged to play the church organ at his funeral service.”
At his wake, Mrs. Zeglen placed his Santa hat at his feet in his casket.
“I always told him that if he died before me, I’d put him in his Santa suit, have the local papers take a photo and say ‘He’s gone,'” she said. “But I couldn’t break kids’ hearts because they were what he lived for.”
In his memory, the Jefferson Fire Department put special stickers on the candy it distributed, and Mr. Zeglen’s son, Eddy, continued the family tradition of putting light-up ornaments in the yard.
As to the future, Mrs. Zeglen said she can’t do Sandy Claus anymore because she just couldn’t bear to put the dress back on now that her husband is gone.
“I always told him he was getting too old to play Santa, but he always said when he can’t play Santa anymore he’d rather die,” she said. “Ed was always proud of his Polish ancestry, and this year we’re still going to have our traditional Polish Christmas Eve dinner. Only this time there will be an empty chair.”