Reception at Elmcroft to honor FHU Alum

One of Freed-Hardeman University’s oldest alumni will be honored with a reception May 3 at Elmcroft Assisted Living Center in Jackson. Dr. J.E. Choate, who attended Freed-Hardeman 1938-1940, has made his home at Elmcroft since 2010.

Choate taught at Lipscomb University for forty years, retiring as professor of philosophy and religion in 1986. He began preaching at the Wingo, Ky., Church of Christ in 1938 and continued preaching at various churches in Kentucky and Tennessee for fifty-one continuous years. He also served many years as a staff writer for the Gospel Advocate.
He is well-known among churches of Christ for his study of the Restoration Movement. He authored and co-authored biographies of H. Leo Boles, B.C. Goodpasture, Marshall Keeble, and Hall L. Calhoun. He is also the author of The American Cowboy: The Myth and the Reality, cited by the Library of Congress as one of the two most authoritative publications on the history of the American Frontier West, 1865-1890.

He was married to the late Marie Jones Choate for 69 years. He has two children, Dr. E. Teresa Choate of Plainfield, N.J., and Jerry J. Choate of the Jackson area. His two grandchildren, Alison Odle and Angela Youngberg, also live in the Jackson area.
Choate holds a B.S. from Murray State University, an M.A. in English from George Peabody Teachers College, and a B.D. and Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University.

At age 95, he continues to study and serve. He has made oral history recordings which are housed in the Freed-Hardeman University Archives. He conducts a weekly class at Elmcroft on the 2,000 year history of the church. He is a member of the North Jackson Church of Christ.

The reception for Choate will be 2-4 p.m. The FHU Ambassadors will sing and FHU President Joe Wiley and Chancellor Milton Sewell will make a presentation.