January 12, 1933 – August 10, 2026
Joseph Phalon Sr., 93, of Pequannock passed away peacefully in his sleep on August 10. He was the father of Joe Phalon Jr. of Blairstown.
There are two kinds of people in the world: The people who loved Joe and the people who hadn’t met him. Joe was beloved by all the people who knew him. He was variously known as “Joe,” “Pops,” “Grandpa,” “Uncle Joe” and most of all, “Santa.”
Joe was a railroad man, and he found great joy in the organization he founded with two fellow train conductors in the early 1980s, Railmen for Children.
They had been tossing loose coins into an empty water jug at their train terminal in Hoboken. Before long they realized they had accumulated what looked to be several hundred dollars. It turned out to be a lot more. After some thought, they decided to use the money to buy Christmas gifts for a nearby school for children with special needs.
Then they took it a step further and in 1983 persuaded New Jersey Transit to give them the use of an entire passenger train, and that year they brought several dozen kids on what would be the first of many rides to the “North Pole” and back.
Four decades later, Railmen for Children—staffed entirely by volunteers from N.J. Transit—has fulfilled Christmas wishes for thousands of children with handicaps and special needs, with Joe playing the lead role, often as the Big Man himself after his own beard turned white. Many of those kids would not have had a Christmas of any kind had it not been for that organization.
Joe was born in Singac in 1933 in a house that is now the site of Holy Angels Church. He often suggested that a shrine was built on his birthplace. He graduated from Passaic Valley High School in 1951 and then joined the Air Force. He was sent to Guam in the South Pacific, where he had what he felt was the most important job on the base: He drove the truck that sprayed the mosquitos. “Big as dogs,” he claimed.
After he was discharged, he returned home and worked several trucker jobs including one for Fairhurst Oil Company. That was short-lived, however. On a delivery, he connected the hose to the wrong pipe and pumped 200 gallons of heating oil directly into somebody’s basement.
His boss not unreasonably showed him the door but at the time he didn’t know he had fired his future son-in-law. A year later Joe married Marsha Fairhurst.
Around the same time, he took a job with the Erie Railroad. Joe and Marsha moved to Pequannock Township in 1962 with their sons Joe Jr. and Tim. They were later joined by Michael and Tracey.
Joe worked long hours as a conductor on freight trains, during hot days and frigid nights. But he worked his way up and became a passenger train conductor, a much cushier job by comparison. He became a beloved legend on the Main Line, greeting his passengers by name every morning and getting them home safely in the evening. By the time he retired in 1995, his last train was a rolling party and media event, he was so beloved by his passengers and co-workers. “Santa Claus Without the Red Suit,” said one news article. “The Nicest Guy on the Railroad,” blasted another headline in 48-point type.
His idea of retiring, though, was simply getting a part-time job or two to keep busy, which included driving the senior citizen van and working as a school crossing guard.
One day the Pequannock Police desk received a call from a portrait photographer desperate to get in touch with “that crossing guard who looks like Santa!” The studio wanted him to be its Santa Claus for the upcoming season. The legend was reborn as Pequannock’s Santa.
Joe not only looked the part, but more importantly, he had just the right personality and demeanor. Kids—and adults—loved him as Santa. He rode with the fire departments and visited schools and hospitals, and became Santa Emeritus with New Jersey Transit, riding with Railmen for Children as recently as last December.
Around the same time he retired, his two grandsons Matthew and Kevin were born. Their parents, Joe Jr. and Rose, will tell you how Joe Sr. and Marsha loved—and spoiled—those boys. And both caught the railroad gene from Grandpa, going into successful careers in what they describe as “The Family Business.”
Joe is survived by sons, Joseph Jr. and his wife Rosemary, and Timothy; daughter Tracey and her partner Fannie; grandsons Matthew and Kevin; and daughter-in-law Mary Phalon, wife of the late Michael Phalon.
He is also survived by his longtime companion Karen Scienski. They enjoyed going to the movies, shopping, car rides and hosting parties.
Joe will be missed by many nieces and nephews, collectively known as “The Cousins,” who loved their Uncle Joe.
Joe was predeceased by his wife Marsha; son Michael; brothers John and Leo; and sisters Dorothy, Lorretta and Gloria.
Visitation will be Wednesday 4-8 p.m. at Scanlan’s Funeral Home, 781 Newark-Pompton Turnpike, Pompton Plains. Funeral Mass at Our Lady of Good Counsel R.C. Church, Pompton Plains, 10 a.m. Wednesday with inurnment to follow at Christ of Kings Cemetery in Franklin Lakes.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Railmen for Children or the Pequannock Township First Aid Squad.