He helped coordinate the Ho Ho Parade
SAN BERNARDINO >> George Finkle, a retired San Bernardino police sergeant who for years spread joy throughout the city at Christmas as the official department Santa Claus, has died. He was 76.Finkle’s widow, Alice, was too distraught too talk on Sunday, but confirmed her husband died on Friday.While Finkle’s cause of death was not confirmed Sunday, sources close to him said he fought a long battle with cancer.
Described by his former colleagues as a selfless man with a jovial personality who could play a mean harmonica, Finkle’s large frame and white beard made him the ideal Santa at the city’s annual Ho Ho Parade and the YMCA Children’s Christmas Parade. He also spread Christmas cheer at various holiday events throughout the San Bernardino Valley including the Childhood Cancer Foundation’s Christmas celebration at the Loma Linda Drayson Center, San Bernardino’s Winter Wonderland event last year at Perris Hill Park and the Boys and Girls Club in Redlands.
Traffic Sgt. Vicki Cervantes, who organized the city’s Ho Ho Parade before it was canceled in 2013 due to the city’s bankruptcy, said Christmas will no longer be the same without Finkle.“People came out of their front doors, in their pajamas, and waved to us. They were so excited to see Santa Claus. It was a rewarding thing to see the happiness that that man brought to kids and adults,” Cervantes said, adding that a picture of Finkle in his Santa costume has been her computer screen saver at work for the last year. “It’s because he’s my favorite man in the whole wide world. Everybody loves Santa Claus. He’s always been the real Santa for me.” In recognition of Finkle’s longstanding service to the city, both as an exemplary police sergeant and as the community Santa Claus following his retirement, former City Councilwoman Wendy McCammack presented Finkle, a lifelong San Bernardino resident, with a proclamation in 2011 to rename the Ho Ho Parade after him.“George was the face of Santa Claus,” McCammack said, also giving credit to Finkle’s wife, Alice, who often played the role of Mrs. Claus.Rain or shine, Finkle was undeterred when it came to his responsibilities as Jolly Old Saint Nick. McCammack specifically recalled the 2012 YMCA Christmas Parade, which Finkle braved despite ailing health, a downpour and frigid temperatures. She also recalled the Childhood Cancer Foundation’s Christmas event at the Loma Linda Drayson Center, when a weary Finkle managed to entertain roughly 700 children and their parents.“George was very weak at the time, but he wasn’t going to miss it for the world,” McCammack said.Lt. Rich Lawhead said Finkle was working in the homicide division when he retired, and was a well respected leader with a lot of street experience.
But Finkle was also a practical joker who knew how to have fun and not let the often grim nature of police work dim his spirits, Lawhead said.
“He was loved and respected by everyone in the department,” said Lawhead.Capt. Raymond King, commander of the department’s traffic division who also helped coordinate the Ho Ho Parade, was still processing news of Finkle’s death on Sunday, and said he could not think of Finkle in the past tense.
He said he will always remember Finkle’s smile and love for the harmonica, which he carried with him everywhere and would pull out and play during breaks at the Ho Ho Parade.“Those were very special moments,” King said. “He really touched all of us, and he still touches all of us to this day.”