A service in memory of Martha Cowan Hoke will be held Saturday, July 8, at 2 p.m. at Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church in the chapel with a reception to follow.
Mrs. Hoke died June 4, 2023, at her home in Ft. Myers, Florida, at age 100. She was the wife of Dr. Donald E. Hoke, senior pastor of Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church of Knoxville from 1978-90.
Born in Dickson, Tennessee, she was a graduate of Science Hill High School in Johnson City, attended East Tennessee State 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. Dr. Hoke died in Knoxville in November 2006.
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.
Her full obituary is here.