Brenda Choate

SPRING HOPE, N.C. – Brenda Choate, 69, of Spring Hope, North Carolina passed away peacefully on Aug. 17, 2024. Born Jan. 1, 1955, to Norman Roy Long and Barbara May Kimball, Brenda was the first baby born in the entire state of Maine that year.

Brenda attended East Hartford High School, in East Hartford, Conn. She was blessed with a caring, generous heart and loved taking care of others, whether members of her family or friends or through her chosen career as Certified Nurse’s Assistant. On April 22, 1978, she married the love of her life, Harris Harold Choate III. Together they shared 13 wonderful years before Harris’s sudden passing in 1990.

Brenda’s hobbies included knitting and playing with her dog, Cookie. She always loved finding the best deals at a yard sale or thrift store. It was her grandchildren, however, who brought Brenda the greatest joy. She loved watching them grow up and being their Nana.

Brenda was predeceased by her husband, Harris; and both of her parents.

She is survived by her two brothers, Richard Long of Connecticut and David Long (and his partner, Laurence Anne Coe) of Maine; by Brenda’s three children, Jon Choate of Virginia, Sara Cushman and her husband Peter Cushman and Mikki Rice and her husband Rick Rice of Maine; by her four grandchildren, all of Maine, Christopher Grant, Gage Rice, Micah Rice, and Jaxson Rice; and by her close friends Peggy and Charles Erdman of North Carolina, Wayne Savage of North Carolina, Tim Savage of North Carolina, and Cindy Hedges of Maine, as well as many other friends; nieces and nephews.