The long-time Fox River Mall Santa, Russell Motschenbacher, has died at the age of 87 in Montana, a source close to him told the Post-Crescent. Motschenbacher served as Santa at the mall for 25 years before retiring in 2019.
Jeff McMullen, who’s better known as “Santa Mac,” has known Motschenbacher since the mid 1990s.
In 2024, McMullen became the first Wisconsin inductee to get into the International Santa Claus Hall of Fame. He credited Motschenbacher for inspiring him to become Santa, after years of Motschenbacher pushing McMullen to do it.
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“He kept asking me to get into the to get into the Santa business, or the character of presenting Santa. And I just kept resisting,” McMullen said. “And every year he would say ‘Come on, Jeff, you need to do this. You’d be the perfect candidate for it.’ And finally, he wore me down, and it just simply changed my life.”
McMullen said that Motschenbacher will be remembered for how special he made the people he met feel, regardless of who they were.
“He just defined what Santa is supposed to be, whether you were 3 years old, or 103, he made you feel special,” McMullen told the Post-Crescent. “He was my Santa. He was our children’s Santa. He was our family Santa, as he was to so many in the valley and throughout Wisconsin.”
Rashad Alexander can be contacted at ralexander@gannett.com and 920-431-8214.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Former Appleton-area Santa, known for Fox River Mall appearances, dies
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