On January 19, 2024, Kenneth Paul Choate of Safety Harbor, Florida, passed away at age 80. His wife Helen, his son Brian, and his sister Carole were by his side in the final days of his life.

Ken was born May 20, 1943 to Vaughan and Katherine Choate in Washington DC. Their families originated in New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle, respectively. For Ken, stories told by his family about his rugged ranching forebears were a source of joy and pride. Times spent as a child on the Texas ranch with his sister Carole, his Aunt Vida and Uncle Bill, and cousin Richard, are some of the most cherished moments of his life.

Carole warmly recalls Ken as an attentive, loving and playful big brother. However, at not yet seven years old, the family received devastating news that Ken contracted Polio, a condition that afflicted his childhood gravely and his adult years not at all insignificantly.

A learned mathematician, Ken graduated from the University of Oklahoma and studied graduate level Computer Science in his beloved Madison, at the University of Wisconsin. He shared with his father Vaughan, strong interests in civics, American history, and economics. Professionally, Ken worked both as a computer system analyst in Virginia and Florida, and as a chosen team member responsible for computerizing Miami’s traffic control system. In subsequent years, Ken would work assiduously for companies contracting with the Department of Defense.

Ken and Helen’s greatest joy was the birth of their son Brian in 1971. As a trio, they would enjoy travel to family in both New England and the West, including a reunion with his relatives in Wheeler, Texas. Inspired by this travel and his son’s passion for horses, Ken endeavored, in middle life, to become an accomplished horseman. In these years, Ken could be found, in off time, enthusiastically astride his trusted Palomino steed, Dino.

Ken is survived by his wife of fifty four years, Helen, son Brian, sister and her husband, Drs Carole and Robert, a nephew, two nieces and their husbands, three grand nieces, and two grand nephews. Throughout his life, Ken was devoted to his beloved pets, most recently the family cats: Thai, Spices, and Rusty Choate.

Ken will be memorialized privately, interred both in his family’s vibrant Florida garden and those western settings held most dear to him.