REXBURG — Santa Claus really does make house calls during Christmas.

Just ask Brigham Young University-Idaho communication major and British transplant Stuart Deacon Jr. who spends much of December serving as Jolly Old St. Nick by making home visits to area children and their families.

“I have five or six house calls for the remainder of the season,” he said. “My weekdays are pretty much free for anyone who’d like to have a visit from Santa.”

Deacon encouraged parents to get their youngsters ready for his visits.

“If parents have prepared their children right with watching Christmas films and a fresh pair of pajamies, by the time Santa gets there, they’re not scared,” he said. “It’s a whole wide-eyed experience.”

Deacon has spent the past four Christmas holiday seasons serving as Santa Claus in the region. He noted that this year has been especially busy. He served as Santa for the City of Rexburg the week before Thanksgiving and has also been working at the Christmas Village near Bear World. He also plans to entertain at Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint ward parties, company parties and schools.

He finds the best thing about being Santa is meeting with children who still believe in the magic and wonder that comes with the big red suit.

“It’s the children who still believe,” Deacon said. “It’s the parents who desire their children to experience that magic of Christmas from the old department store days of yore. It’s the feeling that Christmas can be all-inclusive.”

Santa proves a lovable father figure, Deacon said.

“Santa is really strong and a good example of what a man can be — kind, compassionate, charitable. He’s just a good man who loves everyone,” Deacon said. “Santa Claus is a Jesus for atheists. He’s very universal. You don’t have to force him on anybody. He’s a wonderful guy.”

Deacon’s loving and charitable Santa was born out of the tragic death of his father when Deacon was four 4 years old. His father succumbed to lymphoma shortly before Christmas. Deacon’s American mother and his two siblings eventually moved to Rexburg from England.

Deacon later attended a BYU-Idaho preschool at the Clarke Building where Santa visited that Christmas. Deacon watched as St. Nick handed out a stuffed toy Dalmatian to a fellow classmate.

Deacon’s father had served as an English firefighter, and Dalmatians have a long-standing tradition with fire departments. Disappointed he didn’t get the Dalmatian, Deacon ran to the back of the classroom and cried.

A teacher guided Deacon back to visit with Santa.

“She said, ‘Stuart, tell Santa what you’ve been trying to tell me.’ I said, ‘All I want is a Dalmatian puppy.’ Santa smiled at me and reached into his backpack. The very last stuffed animal was a Dalmatian puppy. Something kind of clicked within me. I knew that Santa cared,” he said.

From that point on, it became all things Santa for Deacon. He often wore a Santa suit for class pictures and once roamed Sugar-Salem High School’s halls dressed as St. Nick after finding the suit in the teacher’s lounge.

Deacon later researched Santa Claus, and how others depicted him. Beards and boots had to be real or it wasn’t an authentic St. Nick, Deacon said.

“This journey as a child trying to be the real Santa — the standard of portraying him wasn’t as high as like the one I saw at the Clarke building,” he said.

That Santa was the late Michael Powell, and Deacon bases his own Santa on Powell’s interpretation of St. Nick.

“I was never able to thank him,” Deacon said.

Deacon started serving as Santa four years ago with the full support of his wife, Destiny. The couple also has a 2-year-old son, Wesley, with another child on the way.

Deacon still retains much of his British accent, and says it comes in handy as everyone expects Santa to be from someplace foreign.

“I want to raise the bar for Santa’s everywhere,” he said. “Anybody can throw on a suit and beard, and they will fool the child — 1, 2 or 3 years old. Christmas Santa needs to look like the real deal.”

Deacon plans to visit with first responders the day after Christmas or on the British “Boxing Day.” The Brits set aside the day for those who worked on Christmas, he said.

“Boxing Days are not when we go through all the boxes or have a boxing match,” he said. “We appreciate those who worked on Christmas. The emergency responders have done that.”

Boxing Day proves especially sentimental to Deacon as his dad dressed as Santa on Boxing Day shortly before he died. As a result, the following Christmas proved a difficult one, Deacon said.

“I thought, ‘Things aren’t so good. We’re away from England and my dad’s side of the family.’ We were too poor to afford any real toys and anything nice anymore. It all crashed down on my little mind then,” he said.

That was until Santa (Michael Powell) stepped in.

“Whether that was a coincidence or a miracle from above letting me know things will be alright — Christmas has always been special to me,” he said. “I had a great Santa with Michael Powell. I feel children deserve to have that magic.”

This will be Deacon’s last year to serve as Santa in Rexburg. He plans to graduate from BYU-Idaho in July and will serve as Santa elsewhere. He will miss it here though.

“I will miss the kids for sure. There’s been one family that’s booked me every year. I’ll miss them dearly,” he said. “I hope I’ve upped the level of expectations of Santas in the Eastern Idaho area.”

For more information on Deacon’s Santa itinerary visit santastuart.com.