David Lee Choate

David Lee Choate, of Judsonia, Ark., was born at Hawkins Clinic in Searcy, November 7, 1956, to James Donald and Alice Marie Webb Choate, and passed away at home March 19, 2017. He was raised near Floyd in White County on the family farm that his grandfather established. His family settled in White County shortly after his great-grandfather had died in the Civil War as a member of the Mississippi Infantry, and his great-grandmother migrated to Arkansas with David's infant grandfather. David was extremely proud of that family heritage and was especially pleased to maintain ownership of a part of the family farm until his death. In 2013, the state of Arkansas recognized the farm for having been in the family for over 100 years. David was predeceased by his father and is survived by his mother. He is also survived by his wife and the love of his life, Penny, of Judsonia, and by his children, Laura Elizabeth Nick and her husband, Chris, and Guy David Choate and his wife, Liz, all of North Little Rock, and Eric Collins and his wife, Brooke, of Judsonia. He is also survived by his granddaughters, Caroline Sidney Nick and Lee Catherine Nick of North Little Rock, and Heagan Faye Collins, of Judsonia. He was very much looking forward to the birth of his grandson in June. He is survived by his sisters, Donna Marie Choate of Searcy and Nancy Lynn Fancyboy of Floyd and her husband, George, and by his brother, James Michael Choate, of Beebe. He attended Beebe Public Schools where he was class president for five consecutive years and was named Mr. Beebe High School and Most Valuable Offensive Player of the football team his senior year. He was active in White County 4-H, and won the county tractor driving championship as a teenager. He attended Arkansas State University at Beebe and graduated from ASU with a degree in Agricultural Economics. Upon graduation, he went to work for Bruce Oakley, Inc., where he remained until three years later, when he and his brother founded Choate Brothers' Feed, which they operated for 16 years. After selling the business, he returned to Oakley as Vice President of Grain and Barge Operations. During his tenure, the company became one of the largest privately owned companies in Arkansas and expanded both the grain and barge divisions by over fivefold. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Arkansas-Oklahoma Port Operators Association, The National Waterways Conference, and President of the Mid-South Grain Association. He was appointed by the Secretary of Defense to the Inland Waterways Users' Board to advise Congress and The Corps of Engineers on the Inland Waterways Trust Fund. He was elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives, where he represented parts of White and Lonoke counties and held many leadership positions including chairman of the House Education Committee. He was appointed to numerous education and agriculture boards of the state of Arkansas by three different governors, both Democratic and Republican, including the Early Childhood Commission and the State Board of Agriculture. When his children were young and he lived in Beebe, he was a member of the school board for seven years and was president of both the Chamber of Commerce and the Kiwanis Club. He was named Outstanding Alumnus by the Arkansas Association of Two Year Colleges, Honorary American Farmer by the National FFA Association and Honorary State Farmer by the Arkansas FFA Association. He was a member of the Arkansas and White County Cattlemen's Associations. He and Penny raised beef cattle and horses on 400 acres in the Ozark Foothill country of White County, and loved to travel the world, especially the Caribbean Sea. He enjoyed playing bluegrass music, having taught himself to play standup bass at the age of 50. He was a member of the Judsonia United Methodist Church. Visitation will be Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Powell Funeral Home of Searcy. Funeral services will be held at the United Methodist Church of Judsonia on Thursday at 2 p.m. www.powellfuneralhome.net.