Schaumburg man embodied spirit as Christmas at Santa's Village

Don Goers was one of Santa's helpers who found his joy in bringing cheer to children across the Fox Valley.

From 1966 through 1979, Goers put on the big red suit at Santa's Village in East Dundee. He also stood in for Santa at Christmas parties and at stores all over the area, including the former Joseph Spiess Department Store in Elgin. According to santasvillage.net, Goers represented Santa longer than anyone else at the park.

“He loved his work,” his daughter LuAnn Groh said. “He loved putting on that suit every morning in the summer as hot as it might have been ... and he loved the kids coming to sit on his lap, telling him what they wanted for Christmas.”

Goers, a Schaumburg resident, died Tuesday at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. He was 85.

He was born in Algonquin and lived in Dundee Township and Huntley before settling in Schaumburg in 1974.

Before playing Santa in the Fox Valley, Goers worked as a laborer at Santa's Village. Once the season ended at the amusement park, Goers stayed behind as a maintenance man who kept it in tiptop shape.

Goers held court at the North Pole in East Dundee, running his tight ship from a house on site — the kids would swarm around him as he tried to go back to his area. And when he took them on his knee, his goal was letting the kids be kids.

“There were stories that broke his heart ... but he was there to take them away from that for a minute,” his daughter said.

After retiring, Goers worked as a maintenance man in Schaumburg apartment buildings. In 1994, Santa called on Goers one last time to be his proxy for the amusement park's 35th anniversary, according to the website.

When Goers wasn't playing Santa, he was playing cards, mostly pinochle, said Dodie Goers, his wife of 36 years. He also found time for community service. Goers was a charter member of the Dundee Township Kiwanis Club and served two terms as president.

“He'd give you the shirt off his back if you needed it,” Dodie Goers said.

Goers is survived by, among others, his wife, five children, three stepchildren, 13 grandchildren, five step-grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. Services will be held at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church in East Dundee. Visitation runs from 3 to 8 p.m. Friday at the Miller Funeral Home in West Dundee and from noon until the service begins at the church.