Meet Pittsburgh's unofficial Santa Claus
For about 10 months out of the year, John Suhr is just a regular man with a regular job.
But during the holiday season, he’s one of the most popular men on the planet.
Suhr is Pittsburgh’s unofficial Santa Claus, having spent the last 14 Christmases donning his red suit and greeting children with a hearty “Ho Ho Ho!” at places like Macy’s Downtown, the Senator John Heinz History Center and Market Square. Up until it ended this year, he also was the centerpiece of the city’s annual holiday parade—a role he said elevated him to celebrity status.
“They brought in this fancy Santa suit from New York,” Suhr, 65, of Carrick, recalls of his first time performing as Jolly Old Saint Nick in the Macy’s parade 14 years ago. “They dressed me up in it and it was like being one of The Beatles in 1964. I’m on a float going down the street and people are yelling ‘Santa! Santa!’ and they’re screaming and falling to their knees.”
Though it may have been one of the first times he portrayed Santa professionally, he was no stranger to the role. He’s spent more than 30 years perfecting it.
“I did it when my kids were little. I’d play Santa on Christmas Eve. They would catch Santa in the act of leaving presents. Then when they outgrew it, I did it for nieces and nephews. And then when they outgrew it, I did it for neighbors and friends.” Suhr has worked for the City of Pittsburgh as a carpenter and locksmith for 36 years. In 2007 he asked the parks department if he could dress up as Santa for the annual tree lighting ceremony at the City-County Building. It was there that he was approached to perform as Santa Claus in the annual holiday parade.
“I had such a wonderful time and through that I became a Santa Claus at Macy’s Department Store in Downtown Pittsburgh. I loved that job. Had such a blast,” he said.
That gig lasted several years, but as rumors swirled of the store’s imminent closing, he decided to take a job as a Santa at a tent in Market Square. This later evolved into Santa’s House at the Peoples Gas Holiday Market.
This year, it’s transformed once again into “Santa Zoom.”
Visits with Santas everywhere have been altered by the ongoing covid-19 pandemic. As for Suhr, his meetings with children at the Heinz History Center are masked and six feet apart, and Santa Zoom takes place through a video feed. “I miss interacting with the kids face to face. I miss them sitting on my lap and hugging them and holding them. Sometimes I’d get a flying hug, and they almost knock me over. I miss stuff like that,” he said.
Suhr takes his Santa duties seriously. He gets his beard and hair trimmed and bleached regularly throughout the year in case he’s asked to do Christmas in July events or pose for ads. And during the holiday season, he takes several weeks vacation from his day job to accommodate his busy Santa schedule. He was incredibly excited to be chosen to light the Horne’s tree—now the Highmark tree—on Light Up Night.
On Black Friday, Suhr got up early to prepare for a long day of portraying Santa Claus back to back at the Heinz History Center and then Santa Zoom. He loaded up his sleigh—or red Subaru—with two Santa suits and coordinating accessories he chose from rails suspending from his basement ceiling. Then he prayed and said goodbye to his cat before heading out the door.
“I like to be thought of as the go-to guy for Santa Claus. It’s a huge honor to be Pittsburgh’s Santa Claus,” he said.
“Some guys are into the Steelers. Some guys go fishing. Some guys go hunting and they have big deer heads on their living room wall. I’m Christmas. I’m going to have Christmas pictures on my wall. Christmas is my big thing. Every man has a thing and my thing is Santa Claus.”
Kristina Serafini is a TribLive photojournalist covering Southwestern Pennsylvania. She is a Pittsburgh native and Point Park graduate. Her work has been honored locally and nationally. She can be reached at kserafini@triblive.com.
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