NEW ORLEANS — Fred Parker, the man known as "Seventh Ward Santa" or "Chocolate Santa," whose warmth and holiday spirit lives on in the thousands of photographs he posed for with generations of Black New Orleanians at Christmas, has died.
A family member confirmed Parker's death Saturday to Eyewitness News. Health problems kept Parker from portraying Santa last Christmas but details of his death were not immediately known.
For nearly 50 years, Parker dressed as Santa Claus and posed for pictures with children who visited Dennis Photofinish studio at St. Bernard Avenue and North Tonti Street.
His smiling face and gray and white beard became instantly recognizable to children and parents, many of whom now remember taking their own photos with him in their youth.
Parker also made countless visits to schools and day care centers and traveled to other cities as Santa as well.
"I love bringing joy to people, that's my job - bring joy to the world, as much as I can," he said in a 2016 WWL-TV interview with Sally-Ann Roberts, who recalled taking her own children and grandchildren for photos with Parker.
Last year, Dennis Photofinish manager Sonia Washington told NOLA.com the studio's founder, the late Wilfred Dennis, first began making holiday portraits with Parker, a former school bus driver, in the 1970s when Black Santas were scarce.
"During his early years as the 7th Ward Santa, Parker was dark-haired and clean-shaven. So, for his first appearance, he donned a beard and a wig," wrote Doug MacCash in The Times-Picayune. But after a little girl snatched off the fake hair, he grew his own, which at first required some spray-on white color, Parker said in 2009.
"Kids come to me asking, 'Where does Santa come from?' and I tell them Santa comes from the heart," he said in the WWL interview. "It's about love and joy. As long as you love people, your Christmas can be every day."
- with reporting by Charisse Gibson