San Antonio – The Alamo Quarry Market is honoring a man known as Santa Tim for his years of service bringing joy to the San Antonio community. Unfortunately, Santa Tim passed away suddenly Tuesday.
Timothy Dougherty had been working as Santa Claus for over 13 years.
“We all knew him as Santa Tim,” said Priscilla Gonzaba, the senior property manager at the Alamo Quarry Market. “He came in and totally embodied the image of Santa. I knew him no other way.”
She said Dougherty never met a stranger.
“He was very welcoming and loved to give hugs and he had the holiday spirit with him 24/7,” Gonzaba said. “The community loved him and the tenants who worked him with him for years loved him. He will be deeply missed. He would stop in their stores and ask, ‘How’s it going?’ He was all about the people and loved what he did. He would not take a day off and you had to force him to do that.”
Gonzaba said her staff is hurting from this loss.
“I have been here for only two years but some of my staff have been here and known him for a lot longer,” Gonzaba said.
She said they more than extend their condolences to his family including his grandchildren.
“I know he spent so much time with us with us during those precious moments during the holiday season and I know he missed those special occasions with his family,” Gonzaba said. “He said he was going to retire this year and we were not excited about that because we didn’t know who would replace him, because he is irreplaceable. But we were excited he was going to be able to spend more time with his family so that in itself is very saddening, because that is not going to happen.”
Gonzaba said she too will hold on to his memories of him in the workplace.
“He would always every morning just come in with this joyous jolly voice saying, ‘Good morning Priscilla! How are you doing today darling!’ The he would have his staff with jingle bells on it. I knew when he was coming back from lunch I could hear him through my window.”
His joy was contagious to everyone he met.
“He had families that had been seeing him for 10 to 11 years plus,” Gonzaba said. “Once they brought their first child to him, people would come back to have their special time with Santa Tim. He played a huge role in bringing in the holiday with the Alamo Quarry Market. He appreciated meeting each and every child and animal as well because he was an animal lover -- so he would also take photos with the animals and pets.”
In his honor, they plan to light the smokestacks in red and green lighting sporadically to keep his spirit alive.
“We are also working with a donation program with Family Services where San Antonians can adopt a family in support of Santa Tim and purchase gift cards that will later be given to people Family Services provides help to.”
Gonzaba said although Santa Tim is gone, she hopes his spirit continues to encourage others to be kind to one another.
“Help a person out who is in need whoever that may be,” Gonzaba said. “Santa Tim would have done whatever he needed to do to help his neighbor.”
