Marie Choate

Altha Marie Nash was born in Springfield, Tennessee, on September 25th, 1930. She would stop us right now and say that she never liked the first name of Altha, so she went by Marie. So, Marie was born to two tenant farmers Jody Lee Nash and Mary Ann Nash. Papa Nash as we all called him worked to raise tobacco. Mama Nash took care of everything else - which was a lot when living on a farm. Marie had on older brother, Winfred (pronounced Winferd) Nash. She had two uncles, Adam Bowling and Burns Bowling. Uncle Adam was married to Aunt Bertha Bowling and Uncle Burns was married to Aunt Bubbie Bowling. She spoke often of having good times at their homes growing up. They did not have a lot as a child but made the best of it during the depression years. They ate off the land and got by as best they could. As a child, she attended Bethlehem Baptist church when they could get transportation. She was baptized there. Marie attended White House high school where she graduated in 1948 with honors and played basketball. She had the opportunity to play in college, but they just could not work out the transportation and finances at the time. She was extraordinarily strong in math and enjoyed working with numbers. During the Korean conflict, she started writing to an Air Force sergeant named Richard Choate with whom she had attended high school. Eventually, when he returned, they married and made their home on Highway 41 just about 3 miles north of Goodlettsville and about a mile south of the foot of the ridge leading up to Ridgetop. They were married for over 50 years. They had one son, Richard Choate, Jr, born in 1956. One of her Uncle Adam's and Aunt Bertha's children, Betty Bowling Greer was her closest lifelong friend. Betty married John Thomas Greer and they lived next door to Marie and Richard on highway 41 for almost 50 years. Marie worked at Capital Commission Company at the Stock Yards in Nashville where she was the Office manager and bookkeeper. She worked there for almost 30 years until she retired. During her life she was an active Elvis fan. She was very heart broken when Elvis died. She also served her Class of 1948 as the bereavement officer. She contacted everyone in her class when someone died to solicit donations for flowers or to support various worthy causes. She was an avid reader. She kept Double Day book club in business. Over her life she read over 5000 novels at last count. She kept an index card list of every book she had read. Even now, she still receives the Robertson County Times so that she can keep up with what was going on. She enjoyed getting her hair "done" each week and whenever she could go later in life. That was her social activity while she was working. She really liked working jigsaw puzzles. She would spread the pieces out on a large table in the living room and work them until she was done. Many of these were 2000-piece puzzles. Later in life she settled for 500 piece or 300-piece puzzles. She liked to work the word find puzzles with her red pens. She always wanted to make sure that she had plenty of red pens for circling the words. There is no telling how many she used up. She also kept up with world events thru the inquirer and globe magazines which made her an expert on Lady Diana and the royals especially later in life. She never liked to cook even though her Mom was probably one of the best cooks around. Her Mom would cook lunch for the other farmers that worked with her Dad. After she retired, she spent many hours at the Senior Citizen center in Goodlettsville where they traveled locally and around the state. The played cards - lots of cards - usually rook or canasta several times a week. They also made porcelain figurines and other projects. Her house was full of her creations. Most days the center would provide lunch and different folks would bring deserts to enjoy. She had a lot of friends there and rekindled old friendships from high school days of folks that were still in the area. She adored her grandnieces and nephew, Samantha, Amber, and Graham Nash. These were her brother, Winfred's and Reba’s, grandchildren. As they were growing up, Marie spent a lot of fun times with them. She LOVED her grandchildren. Angelique, Thomas, Rebecca, and Laura. …..and I know that they loved her So, Marie became Mawmaw over the last years of her life. She had many good times with her grandchildren and was so very proud of all of them. She talked a lot about Angelique and her swimming and girl scouts when Angelique was growing up. She was proud of her eagle scout and soccer player and referee Thomas. She was so grateful for Rebecca living with her and her scholastic accomplishments. But I think she had a special place in her heart for Laura the youngest. Laura was always offering to do things for Mawmaw and help out whenever she could. She appreciated that more than perhaps you know. I know that Mawmaw would have loved to have spent more time with all of them. She saw her grandchildren grow into young adults. ...and I know they would have loved to spend more time with Mawmaw, but I suppose that is always the case as we all have a measured time in this world. Even with a few aches and pains, Mawmaw was remarkably generally healthy until about 4 years ago when she broke her hip. She recovered and was sharp as a tack, reasonably mobile with a walker, and took care of most of her personal needs. Then, on November 13th, 2020, she broke her other hip. She never really the same after that point. She never regained her mobility and had cognitive challenges that impacted her speaking skills going forward. She was in the hospital for 11 days and then in rehab for about 6 weeks and then back to the hospital on the 6th of January until she passed on Monday, the 18th. I think that Mawmaw had a good life. She did not have a lot growing up which made her even more thankful for family, friends, and things that came into her life along her journey. She could not have had a more supportive and loving family. I know that she is talking to Jesus today.... probably about her grandchildren .....and maybe Elvis, of course. She will be greatly missed. Austin & Bell Funeral Home in Springfield is in charge of these arrangements. AUSTIN & BELL FUNERAL HOME- 509 WALNUT STREET, SPRINGFIELD, TN (615) 384-1000

Marie Choate

September 25, 1930 - January 18, 2021