Honoring Robert Weidle: A Legacy of Love

Robert Weidle, Everyone's Santa (1962-2024)

It is with broken hearts that we announce the sudden passing of one of our longtime family members, the wonderful Robert Weidle. Anyone who met him loved Robert. With his distinctive laugh and gentle demeanor, he had an inherent way of connecting with people instantly. Robert wore many hats at in local theatre: He was a gifted performer, director, producer, board member, and box office manager with Newport's Footlighters Inc, and he shared his talents with countless other groups in the area, such as Cincinnati Music Theatre, Mariemont Players, The Drama Workshop, Brieabi Productions, and Beechmont Players—just to name a few. He was actively involved with ACT Cincinnati as an adjudicator and ACT representative, as well as OCTA as a board member, regional rep, and OCTAFest chairperson. He performed professionally at La Comedia in such iconic musicals as Cats and Sound of Music. And, of course, with his big infectious smile and jovial disposition, he was known to the entire Tri-State area as Cincinnati’s Santa Claus. In fact, he was THE Santa Claus for an entire generation of boys and girls, many of whom brought their own children to visit with him at the zoo. But his favorite roles were that of partner to David, father to Rob and Cassidy, and grandfather to Mia and Keito. His unexpected passing leaves a hole in our organization as big as his generous and kind heart. We will miss him terribly.

With Robert's unexpected passing, there are many financial costs that his children will have to cover. We are using this Go Fund Me to help them defray the cost of his funeral and burial. Thank you for your support for a man who gave us so much joy over the years!

We will announce funeral service information as soon as it is available.