Martha C. Hoke

Obituary of Martha C. Hoke
For Myers, Florida 33908


Martha Cowan Hoke (December 16, 1923) died June 4, 2023 in Fort Myers, FL.
Wife of Dr. Donald Hoke, former Senior pastor of Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church of Knoxville, Tennessee. Born in Dickson, Tennessee, she was a graduate of Science Hill High School in Johnson City, Tennessee, attended East Tennessee University and graduated from Wheaton College. She was soloist for two radio programs, Glee Club soloist at Wheaton College, and soloist for an evangelist in the 1940s.
She married Dr. Hoke July 20, 1945. He was then the pastor of South Park Church in Park Ridge, Illinois. She taught voice and directed the Glee Club at Columbia Bible College. She served with her husband for 22 years as missionary under TEAM in Japan.
Martha was a well-known soprano soloist, Bible teacher, retreat and Christian Women's Club speaker. For 12 years she taught three weekly Bible classes in Knoxville. She started women's Bible classes wherever she lived: Wheaton, Illinois, Tequesta, Pensacola, Coral Springs, Fort Myers, Florida, and Montgomery, Alabama.
In Japan she taught at Tokyo Christian College. In her home she held American "tea parties," Western cooking and Bible classes for the Japanese women. She spoke in American military chapels, taught Bible classes for military wives on two Air Force bases and in her home. She was "given to hospitality" on all three continents where she lived. She started Christian Women's clubs in Japan and in Switzerland. She authored two books on Western cooking with Christian devotionals in Japanese, and more recently, In Pleasant Places, a story of God's faithfulness to her and her family.
She was Chairman of women's programs for the International Congress for Itinerant Evangelists, sponsored by Billy Graham in 1983 in Amsterdam. Prior to that she was Chairman of women's programs for the International Congress for World Evangelization in Switzerland in 1974.
In Ft. Myers, Florida she taught ladies Bible classes, and was Court Representative for Sundial Court. She was a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church, served on the missions committee, and was a member of the Naomi Circle. She was a member of the Women's Ministries Committee at The Village Church.
Martha will best be remembered for her joyful spirit, her love for people, and her love for the Lord whom she so faithfully served from her teenage years.
She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Dr. and Mrs. Stephen Hoke of Shell Point Village, Fort Myers, and grandchildren Stephenie and Christopher Hoke, daughter-in-law Beth Fitzgerald, and grandchildren Austin and Stephen Hoke, two nieces, Mrs. Linda Cabaniss of Shelby, North Carolina, and Mrs. Pete Frye of Atlanta, Georgia; and two nephews, Allen Cowan II and Christopher Cowan of Charlottesville, West Virginia.

A memorial service for Martha Hoke will be held at The Village Church in Shell Point Village (15100 Shell Point Blvd, Fort Myers, FL 33908) at 2:00 PM on Thursday, June 29, 2023.

A reception will follow the memorial service. 

In lieu of flowers, please send memorial gifts to the “Martha Hoke Scholarship Fund” at Columbia International University, P.O. Box 3122, Columbia, SC 29230.


 

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