Donal Peter Smith, 72: Retired accountant portrayed Santa Claus
Donal Smith played Santa Claus for nearly 20 years but seldom donned his red suit for adult holiday parties. He was all about the children and thought they -- and the story of Jesus -- were the reasons for the season.
"He never, ever wanted to do an adult party unless it was for a nursing home or something," said Mary Margaret Smith, his wife of 27 years. "And all his Santa books and storybooks were geared around the birth of Jesus."
This Santa drove a red Jeep with a special license plate -- "St Niq" -- to distinguish him from all the other jolly big fellas in the metropolis. He owned six Santa suits and never charged for activities or appearances. This year, the retiree didn't get to portray the icon, though he wanted to badly.
"They wanted him to play Santa at the rehab center," his wife said, "but he just wasn't able to. There wasn't a child who wandered by his room that he didn't wave at and give a candy cane. That's another thing: He carried candy canes with him all the time. He would say the children always know."
On Jan. 1, Donal Peter Smith of Conyers died from complications of congestive heart failure at Riverside Health Care Center in Covington. He was 72. A funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Heritage Hills Baptist Church in Conyers. Horis A. Ward Funeral Home, Rockdale chapel, is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Smith was born in Beverly, Mass., but he had lived in metro Atlanta for decades. An accounting major, he graduated from Bentley College in Waltham, Mass., and shortly thereafter was hired by Warren Brothers Co. of Boston.
In the mid-1970s, he moved to Atlanta after Warren merged with Ashland and eventually joined Simons-Eastern Co. in Decatur. He worked a combined 25 years for Ashland and Simons before retirement.
Mr. Smith's white beard, hair and girth made him a natural at portraying Santa Claus. He was jolly and sincere, too, traits that made his depiction more believable. He often visited the home of the Rev. Andy Futch, student pastor at Heritage Hills Baptist Church, during the holidays.
"He would show up in a red Jeep, in his full Santa Claus outfit, bring simple gifts, then sit down and tell my two children the biblical Christmas story," he said. "If you look at historical references of St. Nicholas, he gave of himself, and that's what [Mr. Smith] did."
Mr. Smith enjoyed all types of sports and spent many a day fishing on Manning Lake in Belknap County, N.H. His father, the late Dwight Willis Smith, built a family cottage on the lake in 1938, the year Mr. Smith was born.
"We just had it refurbished," his wife said.
Additional survivors include a son, Donal Peter Smith Jr. of South Portland, Maine; a daughter, Jeanice Farley of New Hampshire; five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
