David A Cholet

David Alan Cholet of Lakeview, AR passed away August 31, 2022 in Mountain Home, Arkansas. He was born July 31,1950 in Euclid NY to Ethel Breiner Cholet and Phillip Cholet, his mother an aeronautical engineer, father a physicist; Associate Professor of Physics at Syracuse University before becoming head of Ford Motor Company’s advanced developmental electronics divisions. David Cholet’s upbringing leaned toward expectations of high achievement in off-spring, he studied pre-med in college, his parents wanted him to become a doctor. But, later he was awarded a degree in police science from Tennessee Wesleyan, seeking a career in law enforcement at a time when the profession was becoming more stimulating in complexity and sophistication.

Early in hid police career, Cholet was an undercover drug task force investigator known as “the cowboy” his cover, wearing a ponytail, being disgustingly unclean and donning a trademark cowboy hat. Highly intelligent, he later became an expert on bombs which had high value when he later worked in Baghdad during Iraqi Freedom. At the height of his career, he was a SWAT Commander training Quick Reaction Details after 9/11 for the Department of State, training elite units world-wide to take down ships, trains and high rises during extreme threat. During the civil war in the former Yugoslavia, halter during the Clinton Administration, Cholet was chosen for the Advisory Council to remake the new country’s criminal justice network in what is now Bosnia-Herzegovina. There he built a villa and resided for years until becoming a widower and traveling to Arkansas to get through Christmas holidays with Helen Maxwell, widow of one of Cholet’s peers. He never went back home. It is something birthed by this partnership which is thought to be Cholet’s most significant and lasting legacy.

As inflated numbers of police officers were killed in the line of duty, Cholet and maxwell founded a private park with a wooded trail dotted with boulders and metal plaques illustrating reality of law enforcement insights and experiences, entry only via word-of-mouth permission, it is located in a wooded area of Baxter County, AR.

Called Peel’s Sanctuary named after Sir Robert Peel, two – time Prime Minister of England who founded the first police agency in England. Peel is the Father of Modern Policing, first to set down police ethics into print. The park has been officially recognized by the 9/11 federal memorial in New York City, it displays a huge Air Force C-130 propeller honoring police officers who were the first veterans. Peel’s Sanctuary includes stories about Lakeview’s former city council member, Ken Barton, previously a Colorado Springs officer shot and nearly killed, saved by only one-quarter inch of the round grazing a major artery, the Barton monument illustrates the impact of the police shooting on wife Rebecca Barton; the trail features dog handlers and Malenois dogs of the K-9 unit, El Paso PD, each K-9 team photographed in a different part of El Paso to also spotlight their city; in includes the story of former SWAT and Special Forces soldier, Rich Carmona who never graduated high school, yet became a trauma surgeon and SWAT officer at the same time, later appointed by President George Bush to be Surgeon General of the United States. Cholet constructed more than 15 monuments on the oval path through the woods, the route was previously the rail line during construction of Bull Shoals Dam.

Such is the legacy of David Cholet, messages about the men and women who do police work in America, although he admitted he had a lot of local help. Assistance for Peel’s to become reality were Dr. Rob Conner of All Creatures Veterinary Hospital; Terry Partee of Bull Shoals Sign Tech; Kelley Thomas of Kelley Thomas Nursery; Randy Risner for backdrop on Monuments; Ryan Branaman of Ozark Landcrafters; David Ethredge, Attorney at Law for legal work; Diane Janek, formerly police family representative, Chicago P.D.; Charles Newland of Newland’s Resort when heavy equipment was required; Shannon and Melissa Baker, Enterprise Printing whose trail guides are stunning, Larry and Debbie Brainerd of Stow-It in Lakeview who contributed heavy loads of soil to smooth troublesome terrain hazardous to hikers; Maxwell wrote all plaques but that of the K-9 unit, El Paso PD, one chilling account is of the boyhood history of federal agent Jose Alentado when communism and Fidel Castro took control of Cuba, the potent message that when the governments change, policing also changes.

David Cholet will be laid to rest behind the Medal of Valor monument which Maxwell had erected. The medal is the highest recognition for bravery in American law enforcement. Unknown to Cholet, Maxwell discovered Cholet was awarded the medal though he never revealed it or boasted about it. It did earn him the designation of, “a really tough cookie”. A police officer shot during a fire fight with an armed felon was severely bleeding out, Cholet and peer Charlie Lance tore off their body armor and threw down their weapons leaving themselves totally vulnerable as they ran through gunfire to save the wounded officer. It demonstrated the peak of excellence in officer devotion to public safety, regardless of risk.

Cholet is survived by two brother, Bruce Cholet of Marion County, AR, Charles Cholet and wife, Katherine Monaco Cholet of Grand Junction, CO, sister Allison Cholet of Skippack, PA; a son, Christopher Cholet of Las Vegas, NV, former crew chief on a Blackhawk helicopter during wars in the Middle East; and vitally important to David Cholet was recognition of Andy Cain, his “Band of Brothers” fellow counter terrorism expert with whom Cholet has worked for years, surviving terrorism venues in many countries, both with that enduring strong male bonding borne of heightened experiences beyond the pale. Cain, a former Marine, was Cholet’s supervisor in Department of State counter terrorism. Cain also featured at Peel’s spotlighting his oft repeated question during training sessions, “What could possibly go wrong?”. It is that question Cholet literally wore, with Andy Cain’s words professionally printed on his favorite T-shirt. Celebration of Life pending at a later date: Kirby and Family Funeral Home
Arrangements are by Kirby and Family Funeral and Cremation Services - Bull Shoals, Arkansas. Visit an online obituary and guestbook at www.kirbyandfamily.com .