Robert R. Neidig, 67, of Erial, whose white beard, stocky build, and festive red suit brought Christmas joy and hope to the pediatrics floor of Cooper University Hospital, died Feb. 10 at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital following a fall at his home.
“He doesn’t put on a costume. He is Santa,” said Barbara McCarty, child life coordinator at Cooper, who scheduled Mr. Neidig’s holiday visits for 15 years.
“He was a jolly soul,” McCarty said. “He didn’t need a fake belly, and he had the beard.”
Mr. Neidig first dressed up as Santa Claus when his older son, Robert Jr., was a child. But he forgot the white gloves. The boy recognized his father’s hands immediately, said Christy Neidig, who is married to Mr. Neidig’s son, Douglas.
From then on, Mr. Neidig worked at perfecting his look, including growing out the white whiskers some say transformed him into Father Christmas.
“Even the kids who thought they were a little street-smart and would pull on his beard,” McCarty said.
“He lived for being Santa,” McCarty said. “It brought him such joy.”
Though Mr. Neidig would have been the perfect mall Santa, he didn’t like the idea of people paying to meet him or take his photo, Christy Neidig said.
Instead, he went to friend’s houses and had the neighborhood children gather. On several occasions, he visited chronically ill pediatric patients from Cooper who were home for the holidays, McCarty said.
Mr. Neidig worked for 16 years as a custodian in the Gloucester Township Public Schools system. He retired in 2005 after suffering a severe brain aneurysm. But he missed his old job in the schools, where he knew many of the children by name, Christy Neidig said.
After his recovery, Mr. Neidig volunteered at the Stratford Nursing & Convalescent Center and enjoyed chatting with the residents.
A sports enthusiast, he loved watching baseball and football on TV and never missed his grandson’s sports practices and games. He was also a fisherman and often traveled to Fortescue, N.J., to catch dinner.
Mr. Neidig was born and raised in Camden, where he attended Camden Catholic High School. In 1962, he enlisted in the Air Force and was stationed in Alaska and the Philippines during the Vietnam War.
Following his discharge, Mr. Neidig was hired by the Rustler Steak House and placed in its management program. He met his future wife, Lydia Untalan, while training in Maryland.
The couple married in the early 1970s and Mr. Neidig was placed as manager of the Rustler restaurant in Pennsauken. Tired of the pressure and long hours, Christy Neidig said, he left the position in the late ’80s.
He joined the Gloucester Township School District in 1989 and moved with his family to Erial. Mr. Neidig became closely involved with the Erial Community Church, where he taught Bible school and sang in the choir.
In addition to his sons and his wife of 37 years, Mr. Neidig is survived by a daughter, Irene Kaltz; six grandchildren; a brother; and two sisters.