Yet, there he was earlier this month, dressed in his red suit and beard, with his wife, Kerstin, as Mrs. Claus, by his side. Together, they pulled up appropriately enough in an antique fire truck.
Schultz was tapped for the role, not to visit with children and hear their holiday wishes, but to serve as a race starter for the Rotary Santa 5K Run, the signature event for the Arlington Heights chapter.
This year's run the third annual drew more than 1,200 Santas running through the streets of downtown Arlington Heights, and raised more than $35,000 for Rotary's philanthropies, both locally and internationally.
"We were looking for a signature event that would raise funds, be highly visible for the Rotary Club and be a community event," says Kris Stabler, Rotary president. "This hits on all cylinders."
Rotarians says they had their reasons for picking Schultz as their starter, though prior experience in the role wasn't one of them.
"I had never played Santa before," Schultz says.
He is, though, something of an ambassador for the international organization.
He joined the chapter three years ago and he heads the international service component, promoting group study exchange programs for young professionals and ambassadorial scholarships for people interested in pursuing an advanced degree internationally.
The programs are great opportunities, but need more applicants, he said.
He knows firsthand about their benefits. In 1989, he was selected to participate in a group study exchange team sponsored by the Rotary Club of Wheeling that went to South Africa.
As a young firefighter and paramedic, Schultz visited fire departments, emergency medicine services, hospitals and ambulance companies to see how they operated in South Africa.
"It was quite the experience," Schultz says. "It built my confidence tremendously, just meeting different people and talking about what I do and where I live. But it also broadened my perspective."
That wasn't the only pivotal part of the experience, though.
Before going overseas for five weeks, Schultz attended a district conference for
ambassadorial scholars and study exchange participants. One of the scholars was Kerstin
Kopp from Gothenburg, Sweden, who was studying at Northwestern's Kellogg Graduate School of Management on a Rotary scholarship.
They married 18 months later, and in March will celebrate their 20th anniversary. Kerstin Schultz is a vice president in project management at Baxter Healthcare in Deerfield, working in research and development on nutrition projects.
"Being involved with Rotary changed me both professionally and personally," David Schultz says. "It literally changed my life."
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