Meet the 94-Year-Old ‘Chief Elf’ Keeping the Magic of Christmas Alive
Meet Pat Koch, the Chief Elf of Santa Claus, Indiana — "America's Christmas Hometown." We caught up with Pat to hear about her family's legacy, the tens of thousands of letters to Santa answered each year, and more. Image: Pat Koch
Mrs. Pat Koch grew up in a place where Christmas never ends. The daughter of “Santa Jim” Yellig and co-founder of the famed Holiday World theme park in Santa Claus, Indiana (yes, you read that right), Pat now serves as Santa’s Chief Elf, leading the volunteers who answer thousands of children’s letters each year. At 94, she carries on her family’s promise to keep the true magic of Christmas alive.
If you’re looking for a little holiday spirit, you’ve found it.
Snow was falling the morning Mrs. Pat Koch spoke to us from her hometown of Santa Claus, Indiana. And despite the dangerously slick county roads, she was determined to make the interview happen — a testament to the dedication and quiet resolve that have defined her life’s work.
“I was born in 1931 after my father came back to Mariah Hill, a very small town about 10 minutes from Santa Claus,” she explains. “He’d been in World War I, lived in Chicago for a little bit, and had my brother there. He came home for his mother’s funeral and said, ‘I want to come back to small-town Indiana.'”
She recalls how simple life was then. “It was so completely different from life today that there’s no way you can compare it. But I thought it was wonderful. My father immediately began visiting the postmaster in Santa Claus and found that he was overwhelmed with letters,” she says. “So, he started helping Postmaster Oscar Phillips. And so that’s my legacy and that of my children and grandchildren.”
Her father’s devotion to Santa actually began in the U.S. Navy. “He took on that role when he was a young sailor,” she says. “He was in Brooklyn Navy Yard on the USS New York, and they were going to have a party for children, and they had everything ready, but somebody said, ‘We need a Santa Claus.’ And somebody else said, ‘There’s a guy in the engine room that says he’s from Santa Claus. Let’s go ask him.’ He was 19 years old and had never done that before.”
“His beard was just horrible. His outfit was awful,” she adds. “But the children were just so excited and happy, and looking at him with such awe.”
But that horrible beard and outfit were the start of something. “He told me that he made an oath to God — if he lived through the war, he would be Santa Claus, because he saw the joy he brought to children. So when he came back, he started answering letters,” says Pat. “He was Santa Claus for 52 years, from 1931 to 1984. Even today, people tell me, ‘I sat on Santa Jim’s lap.’ He was the real Santa Claus.”
That tradition continues today in Pat’s hands. “It really is a family thing as much as a community thing, because it is a ministry,” she explains. “We’ve already answered about 3,000 letters this year. Normally, we don’t start until after Thanksgiving, but we couldn’t wait.”
And each letter is treated with care. “My rule is you answer every single letter unless it’s obscene, rude, or there is no way to get an address,” she shares. “It varies, of course. I would say we get 20,000 to 30,000 letters a year.”
“At one point in our history, we got 100,000. They wanted to take the post office away because it was causing too much trouble, but we kept it,” says Pat. “We get letters from foreign countries, too — China, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland. Every single one is answered.”
And each letter carries a story. “The one I used to have hanging in my office was, ‘Dear Santa, please make my dad smarter,'” Pat laughs. “Another child sent a key and wrote, ‘We don’t have a chimney, so this is a key to the front door so you can get in.’ And another gave strict instructions about where to find money if Santa needed any.”
“Once, I opened a letter from Russia, and it had a blue pacifier inside,” she tells us. “The mother had promised her son that if he sent his binky to Santa Claus, he would get a lot of gifts. So he was sending it to Santa.”
And then there are the letters that break your heart. “We get letters from men who are incarcerated and people whose mother is dying. We have to be very careful to be compassionate,” she explains. “Every letter is carefully read. Each letter is personalized with the name of the child. You must check the spelling; the child will know if you didn’t read it properly. And then you add a personal note at the bottom.”
Through the years, the magic has only grown.
“It looks like Christmas,” Pat says of her special town. “Everybody is decorating. There’s a gated community called Christmas Lake Village with a festival of lights that you can drive through … This year, there’s an ice-skating rink, which is really big for our town. We have a large Christmas store that looks like it would be in New York City, and a great big parade with local bands, veterans, farmers with their tractors, horses, and ponies.”
“I’ve never missed a parade,” she adds with a smile. “My husband and I were the first grand marshals — that was a real big thrill. This year, I’ll miss it for the first time because my grandson is graduating from college the same day … That’s too important to miss.”
As if her Holiday World legacy isn’t enough, Pat founded the Santa Claus Museum and Village in 2006 to preserve the story of how this tiny Indiana town became “America’s Christmas Hometown.”
“I have the document from January 8, 1856, when the town received its name,” she says. “It was originally Santa Fe. Somebody wrote, Choose another name. Then somebody wrote, Santa Claus. And that’s how we got our name. The magic is that the postmaster who petitioned for it was named Nicholaus. Like St. Nick. I think that’s just amazing.”
In her quiet moments, Pat finds peace in simple pleasures. “I love people,” she shares. “I love being alone, but I love people. And I love to read. I have a master’s degree in pastoral ministry and a bachelor’s in nursing … For some reason, I love to quilt.”
And of course, she never forgets to laugh. “My sense of humor … I couldn’t do without it,” she tells us.
When asked about the best advice she’s ever received, Pat doesn’t hesitate. “This card I got said, ‘So live that your life may be an inspiration to those whose lives you touch.’ And I think the word inspiration is so important. Leadership is to inspire — not to boss people around, but to inspire.”
Through all the years and all the letters, Pat Koch remains humble and grateful. “I love helping to make people happy,” she said. “Like everybody else, I have sorrow in my life, so if I can bring joy … that’s what my dad always said. Bring joy.”
She pauses and smiles. “It’s beautiful here today,” she says of the snowfall outside. “It’s beautiful.”
And so is she — the heart behind Santa Claus, Indiana … the Chief Elf who reminds us all that believing never gets old.
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Jenna von Oy Bratcher
Jenna von Oy Bratcher is StyleBlueprint's Associate Editor and Lead Nashville Writer. The East Coast native moved to Nashville almost two decades years ago, by way of Los Angeles. She is a lover of dogs, strong coffee, traveling, and exploring the local restaurant scene bite by bite.