From the Richmond newspaper:
Known for his red Santa suit with the three sergeant's stripes and his own trademark white beard and hair, Sgt. Duling had packed a marked police cruiser each Christmas Eve since 1973 with everything from comic books and stuffed animals to basketballs and cookies and headed to low-income Richmond neighborhoods.
More than 20,000 underprivileged children, who might otherwise have received no Christmas gifts, flocked to the cruiser. As the gifts ran out, he would return to a trove at his workshop at Summit Avenue and Marshall Street to reload, until all presents were distributed.
Retired Richmond police detective Sgt. Dalton Rotruck "Ricky" Duling died at age 84 in August of 2010.
This is his workshop on Summit Ave., now abandoned. I drove by today and thought how sad that this man's dream died with him.
Last week one of my friends from Richmond posted a picture of Sgt. Santa's van abandoned in a junkyard. Unfortunately I can't find the link now but I'm hoping they'll see this and post it here.
It was not enough that he was a public servant, he still went above and beyond to help his fellow man. What a tribute to his life. thanks for sharing this
I had no idea that his van is in a junk yard, his warehouse is empty and for rent and no one is carrying on the tradition. Having grown up in Richmond and seen lots of traditions fall by the wayside - this one bothers me the most.
Really sad to hear this news. My friend (the retired cop) knew Sgt. Duling personally and said he was known to his fellow police officers as well as being a man with a big heart!
January 20th, 2011
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