Jacqueline Ernst, artist and gardener

Jacqueline Walker Ernst, 97, a "gray lady" at the former Valley Forge Military Hospital and longtime resident of Gladwyne, died Friday, May 24, at Waverly Heights from complications of a stroke.

Mrs. Ernst grew up in Philadelphia, where she attended the Agnes Irwin School, which at the time was at 2011 Delancey Place.

After graduating, Mrs. Ernst studied art in Florence, Italy, and became an accomplished sculptor, painter and wood-carver, her family said. Her works are in private collections.

She returned to the United States and married Charles A. Ernst Jr. in October 1938. The two met at a dance and were together until his death in December 2011.

In 1942, while her husband served in the Navy aboard destroyers in the Mediterranean and the Pacific, Mrs. Ernst volunteered as a "gray lady," providing comfort and care to the wounded at the hospital in Phoenixville.

She raised two children alone until he returned from the Navy.

After the war, she and her husband divided their time among Gladwyne, Nantucket, and Florida. They also traveled to Europe.

Mrs. Ernst enjoyed gardening, and served as president of the Garden Workers-Zone V Horticultural Society of the Garden Club of America, and in the same role for the Nantucket Garden Club.

"She loved flowers, and was a good manager," said her son, Charles A. III.

Mrs. Ernst and her husband belonged to the Nantucket Yacht Club in Massachusetts and the Corinthian Yacht Club on the Delaware River. They sailed their 40-foot yawl "Bonne Amie" with both clubs.

Mrs. Ernst's values were crisply spelled out: to love God and country, respect one's fellow man, and find ways to serve others, her family said.

Surviving, in addition to her son, is another son, Robert Alexander; a daughter, Anna Julieanna Ernst Geer; 11 grandchildren; and 20 great-grandchildren.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Friday, May 31, at St. Christopher's Church, 226 Righters Mill Rd., Gladwyne. Interment will follow in the churchyard.

Condolences to the family may be offered at www.stuardfuneralhome.com.