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, Maryland, Syracuse, New York and Madison, Wisconsin before moving to Lincoln, Nebraska. 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. She was also a member of the Stewart Library Board of Trustees, the Grinnell Art Gallery Commission, and the Grinnell Museum Board of Directors. She did volunteer work for Campfire Girls and Boy Scouts, taught Sunday school and served as a docent for the University of Nebraska Sheldon Art Gallery. Survivors include one son, Stephen C. Ernst of Berkley, Michigan; two daughters, Mary Jane Scharenberg of West Lafayette, Indiana and Jean Porter of Mission, Kansas; five grandchildren; seven great grandchildren; and one brother, Jean Hempstead of Ames, Iowa. She was preceded in death by her husband; her parents; one grandson; one great grandson; one sister; and two brothers. Memorials may be directed to the Mayflower Homes Human Needs Fund, the United Church of Christ-Congregational in Grinnell or Grinnell Regional Hospice.