Elizabeth (Betty) Ernst 98, of the Mayflower Homes in Grinnell, Iowa, died on Thursday, November 8, 2007, at the Mayflower Homes Health Care Center. Betty was born on November 14, 1908, in Victor, Iowa to Carl Watson and Mertie Lemmon Hempstead. She was raised in various Eastern Iowa communities and graduated from Muscatine High School. She received a BA degree from Parsons College and later a nursing degree from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. On January 1, 1934, she was married to George Campbell Ernst in Stuart, Iowa. The couple lived in Ames, Iowa; College Park, Md.; Syracuse, N. Y.; and Madison, Wisc. before moving to Lincoln, Neb. The couple lived in Lincoln for 27 years and she worked as a Registered Nurse. In 1974 the couple moved to the Mayflower Homes in Grinnell, Iowa to retire. She was a member of the United Church of Christ-Congregational and the American Association of University Women. While living in Lincoln, Neb., she served as a docent of the University of Nebraska Sheldon Art Gallery and volunteered with Camp Fire Girls, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. In Grinnell, Iowa she was a member of the Stewart Library Board of Trustees, the Grinnell Art Gallery Commission, and the Grinnell Museum Board of Directors. She taught Sunday school at both the Lincoln and Grinnell United Church of Christ-Congregational Churches, and spent occasional summers as camp nurse the U.C.C. summer camps both in Nebraska and Iowa teaching campers her love of the outdoors.
Survivors include one son, Stephen C. Ernst, Berkley, Mich.; two daughters, Mary Jane Scharenberg, West Lafayette, Ind.; and Jean Porter of Mission, Kan.; five grandchildren; seven great grandchildren; and one brother, Jean Hempstead, Ames, Iowa. She was preceded in death by her husband; her parents; one grandson; one great grandson; one sister; and two brothers.
A memorial service will be held 2 p.m. Tuesday (11/27/07) in the Carman Center of the Mayflower Homes with Pastor Jan Reimers officiating. Interment will be at Mitchellville, Iowa at a later date. Memorials may be directed to the Mayflower Homes Human Needs Fund; the United Church of Christ-Congregational in Grinnell; or Grinnell Regional Hospice. Smith Funeral Home, Grinnell, Iowa, is handling arrangements.
Contributor: DSH (47399957)