Wade Hampton Choate

A memorial service will be held Saturday, January 7, 2012 at First Christian Church, 29 N. Oakes, at 11:00am.

Wade Hampton Choate, Jr. was born December 20, 1928, in Fort Worth, Texas, to Wade Hampton Choate and Jessie Chambers Choate. He is survived by his wife Martha Jean Lisby Choate, son Vic, his wife Cathy and their children Taylor Choate, Courtney Nagel and her husband Eric Nagel, their son Rewk, his son Guy, his wife Eva and their children Anne Marie, Michael and his wife Natalie. Sisters Doris George and Carlie Wilson also survive him.

Wade was a product of Northside Fort Worth, the Fort Worth Stockyards and the Great Depression. After leaving school he worked at the Fort Worth Stockyards until he joined the United States Navy at the age of 17. He served in the South Pacific. After leaving the Navy he returned to Texas where he married and commenced a lifetime in the cattle business. On the Fort Worth Stockyards, he worked for Foley-Allen Commission Company before managing Texas Livestock Marketing Commission Company. In October 1960, with the end of the Fort Worth Stockyards at hand, Wade followed his lifelong friend Bill Martin and moved his family to San Angelo, where he and John Cargile partnered on a handshake in Concho Livestock Co. for over 40 years. He later operated Four L Cattle Company with his son Vic Choate. (Guy Choate became an attorney so Wade could keep his drivers license.) He built a great livestock operation on the ranch he loved at Grape Creek where he and Martha entertained a wide variety of friends. Towards the end of a long career, friends encouraged Wade to write a memoir of his life in the cattle-business. Wade used to say, "Anybody with a ninth grade education ought to be able to write a book!" Elmer Kelton gave him the best possible advice when he told him that no one could write his book but him. Swappin’ Cattle was the result and it is a vivid history of the cattle business from the 1940’s to the turn of the 20th century.

Long time members of the Hoolihan, Wade and Martha kept a place at Hoolihan Acres for many years and enjoyed the company of many members as well as the thousands who attended the annual party. He was the Roundup Chairman for the West Texas Boys Ranch. Wade and Martha, together with Bill Shaw, Clifton and Bonnie Reed, hosted the First Annual Boy’s Ranch Dance. Wade was presented a Lifetime Achievement Award by The Board of Directors of West Texas Boys Ranch. He was a founding member of College Hills Christian Church and was a member of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association and the National Cattleman’s and Beef Association. Wade was a self-taught engineer. For over twenty years he worked side by side with Castulo Rodriguez and his family for whom he felt great admiration and affection.

Friends were an important part of Wade’s life and he had them from Bevan Doyle in Australia to the entire Ab Smith family of Kansas, Colorado and Montana. His friends are too numerous to mention but those living and dead knew who they were. Wade was proud of his grandchildren. He always told them to find a job doing what they loved and they’d never have to work another day in their life. It was a creed he followed himself.

Honorary pallbearers are Jerry Stokes, Bill Shaw, Skipper Duncan, John Conn, Jim Terry, Bobby Bynum, Tommy Bynum, Bobby Frank, Castulo Rodriguez, Toad Tucker, Bo Cantrell, and Robert Ducote. The family expresses their gratitude to Rebecca Pardo, Sarah, Celya, Maggie, Emma, Karla and Vista Care. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials to the West Texas Boys Ranch, Meals for the Elderly, or a favorite charity.

Arrangements under the direction of Johnson's Funeral Home, San Angelo, TX.