While everyone hopes for their day-to-day life to go smoothly, the reality is, life doesn’t always happen that way. Choate Electric understands that unforeseen things do happen. Because of their loyalty, dependability, and compassion for their clients, they have had a very successful business since 1955.
Choate Electric has always been a family company. The first Choate to start the heirloom was, “Booger” Red and his wife Katie Mae Choate. In 1937 Red Choate worked for Carl Beatty. While Red worked for Mr. Beatty, Red was given the honor of wiring the Palo Pinto County courthouse with Carl. Eventually Red, with the support of his wife Katie, decided to open their own company in 1955. The business has been open at its current location-205 SE 4th Ave, Mineral Wells, TX 76067 since 1960. It is currently run by Red and Katie’s two sons Richard and Oscar Choate. The pair have been involved in the business since childhood. Richard notes that it was always something they wanted to do.
“We grew up doing it, back when kids could work when they were four years old.” -Richard Choate
Oscar remembers being a valuable asset to the team even when they were small. He reminise’s “Me and Dick were pulling wires under floors and in attics where nobody could get to because we were so small. But we wanted to do it. Dad always had minner money.” The whole family pitched in to make the business work. There are currently four generations of Choate’s who are involved in making the company what it is today.
Over the generations, Choate Electric has done some pretty amazing things just within the community of Mineral Wells. One of the most memorable for Oscar is building a sensitive temperature control room. He says, “We had to make this run at less than 40% humidity, and then had to maintain a 70-degree temperature 365 days out of the year.” Because these two brothers built this system from scratch they were the only ones able to maintain and repair this room.
In addition to their collective ingenuity, they also have unremarkable kindness. Richard notes a time when he and his brother put their customers and community first. “We probably did 500-600 calls in a twenty-day period. We were relighting pilots only. We only did one job in that twenty-day period that I actually charged money for. But out of all of those furnaces that we relit for people, only 10% were our customers and 90% were other people’s customers that couldn’t or wouldn’t get to them. We never charged a penny. During all that bad weather and people freezing we took care of our customers and everybody else’s customers too.”
Since COVID-19 businesses have struggled to follow new codes, but Choate Electric has kept up to the standards.
Oscar says, “We did not stop doing business. We kept going. It was late in the fall before anybody around here caught it. And just kept on, we were down a few days, and then we were back out. I don’t think it changed our business. The customers that need air conditioning in the summer and heat in the winter, don’t care if there’s COVID or snow on the road. They want you to come to fix it now!”
Choate electric has many successful stories that would delight all to hear. They are always willing to help their customers and neighbors. This family-owned business has supported all who have contacted them. No matter the time of day, the weather, or the pandemic, their generosity has made their company successful for over fifty years with many more to come.
If you are not familiar with the term “minner money” just ask Choate Electric! Consider using Choate Electric for all of your HVAC and Electrical needs, especially if you only have some “minner” money! Their phone number is (940) 325-3244
Writer | I graduated from Weatherford College with an Associates in Art, focusing on history, creative writings, sociology, and humanities. Experience in child development, client care, and runs local Spoken Word Poetry group for young teens.
