Dave Riley travels in style.  From one of America’s premier aircraft carriers to a squad car to a winter conveyance pulled by eight reindeer, Riley’s ride is his signature, and he’s happy to share it with his wife, Dee.
The Bremerton couple, both of whom are 66, met while serving in the U.S. Navy in 1968.  He was assigned to the photo lab aboard the U.S.S. John Kennedy and he worked at the photo lab supply room on shore.  Naturally, they were fated to meet.  Two months later, in July, they were married.
“He had to get photo supplies from me,” Dee recalled.  “We were jut in the photo lab supply room together, and we kind of hit it off.”
Dave was assigned to the aircraft carrier before it was commissioned, after having served in the Naval Air Reserve in 1965 while he was still in high school at age 18.
“Dave served two years active duty and four years inactive reserves,”  Dee said.  “Back then we had two-year active duty enlistments.”
“It was a lot of fun,” said Dave.  “I was on a big showboat, everybody came to see it.  I was a photographer so I had access to all the photos that came through. I would’ve stayed in but I had a family and they said I’d have sea duty.”
Dee left the Navy “when they found out I was pregnant,” she said.
“Back then, you had to get out of the military if you were pregnant.”
The Riley’s first child, David — now 44 — was born in Missouri, where Dee had moved to live with her parents while Dave served his sea duty aboard the John Kennedy.
“He left a six-months pregnant wife and came back to a six-month-old baby son,” she said.
Two more children, Michael, now 40, and Diane, now 38, followed after Dave had left the Navy and turned in his aircraft carrier for a police squad car.
The Rileys, who moved to Bremerton in 1980, just celebrated the birth of their first great-grandchild.  Their granddaughter Marisa, who lives in Alaska and is one of 13 Riley grandchildren, gave birth Jan. 13 to a son, Jeremiah Charles Gray Nickoloff.
“My father signed for me to join the Navy when I was 20 in December of 1967,” Dee recalled.  “In those days, men could join the service when they turned 18, but women had to wait until they were 21, or have a parent sign for them.
“My father said, ‘If I don’t take you down there now, you’ll join when you’re 21 anyway and you’ll always have a beef with me,’” Dee said.
Dee said she was prompted into joining the Navy by the climate of the times.
“People were burning flags at that time,” she said.  “It made me angry.  You can say something about my country, but don’t burn our flag.  It stands for a good country.”
Dee admits there are great differences in the Navy experience for young women now compared to when she served.
“They get to do a lot more than we did,” she said.  “If they get pregnant they can stay in.  A lot of the changes proves a female can do as well as the guys. We’re not as helpless as some people think we are.”
Once out of the military, Dave turned his sights on a law enforcement career and served with numerous departments, including the city of St. Louis police department and in Florida — but not before trying to join the Army as a military policeman.
“The papers were ready and he was all set,”  Dee said, “but then they called and said the job wasn’t open anymore.”
Then, nearly 35 years ago, they decided to start their lives over again and headed to Washington, where Dee had an aunt living in Tacoma. Dave got a job in the shipyard as a policeman.
“It was really funny because a year after we got to Washington, my mother and her husband moved to Washington,” Dee said.
About 25 years ago Dee was working as a bartender at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post when she heard the American Legion needed a Santa Claus.  She felt Dave was perfect for the job and the Rileys started another new era in their lives.
“I started out as an elf a year or two after Dave started as Santa,”  Dee said.  “Somehow, over the years, that gave way to me being Mrs. Claus.  I really enjoy that, plus, I look like her.”
The couple takes no payment for their visits to organizations, companies and even private homes during November and December.
“We just think there’s too much commercialization of Christmas now,” Dave explained.  “We don’t do this for the money.  Beside, sometimes people couldn’t afford to pay us and we don’t want them to miss out. The best part is watching people’s faces,” Dee said.  “We don’t do this just for kids, we do it for adults and for special people, handicapped people, and the elderly.  You have to really be on your toes, too.  Kids ask a lot of questions, like ‘Where’s your reindeer?’ and, ‘How’s the snow at the North Pole?’.”
Dee said the kids are always fascinated with Santa’s beard, which is real.
“They don’t believe us, at first,” she explained.  “Then, we tell them to pull it and they’re amazed it doesn’t come off and it’s really there.”
“I like helping the kids and the special people,”  Dave said.  “One of the best parts is you get to meet all kinds of new people.”
Last year the couple logged 18 visits as the Clauses, including one in Canada in November.  The newest addition last year to the family act are three granddaughters who posed as Santa’s elves.  The calls for reservations for Santa and Mrs. Claus, Dee said, start coming in September and October.
“I wish I had the money to buy some of the things these people want,” Dee said.  “It can be heartbreaking to listen to them.”