By DIANE GASPER-O'BRIEN

dobrien@dailynews.net

Jerry Choate, former Fort Hays State University professor and director of Sternberg Museum of Natural History, has died.

Choate, 66, lost an eight-month battle with cancer Wednesday evening in Denver.

Choate and his wife, Fi, were staying at the home of their only son, Judd Choate, awaiting gene therapy trial for melanoma that was diagnosed last spring.

However, Judd Choate said, tumors in his dad's brain "were too many and too large, leaving no options for treatment."

Jerry Choate retired in June from Fort Hays, where he had worked for nearly 40 years, teaching in the department of biological sciences and serving as director of two different museums -- Museum of the High Plains and then Sternberg.

Choate battled cancer since April when it was discovered he had three brain tumors and was diagnosed with stage IV melanoma.

The body will be cremated, and a memorial service in Hays is planned for a later date.

The family is setting up a memorial through the FHSU Foundation for graduate students working in mammalogy at Sternberg.

Choate was born March 21, 1943, in Bartlesville, Okla.

After earning his bachelor's degree from Pittsburg State University, Choate received a master's degree from the University of Kansas and began working at Fort Hays in 1971. He later earned a PhD.

Besides his wife and son, Choate is survived by his daughter-in-law, Lyn Kathlene, and a granddaughter, Mahlon.