(1924-2014)

Elsie Ward Ernst Treadwell, age 90, died on Oct. 20, 2014 in Irvington, Va.

She was born in Saginaw, Mich., on Aug. 10, 1924. She lived in Grosse Ile and graduated from St. Mary Academy in Monroe, Mich. During the war, she served as a volunteer driver at the Naval Air Station in Grosse Ile. Her college years were spent at Duke, University of California, Berkeley, and graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles, where she was a member of the Gamma Phi Beta Sorority.

Elsie returned to Saginaw, where she taught in the public school and later worked for the telephone company. In 1951, she married Arthur Adams Ernst, an electronic engineer with the National Bureau of Standards. They lived in Northern Virginia where she was a member of the Junior League. She served on the Board of the National Genealogical Society, was a Certified Genealogical Researcher and published several books.

Besides her family, her love was horses and riding with the Orange County Hunt in Middleburg. She worked on a farm in Great Falls, Va., where she raised jumpers and sheep, and taught riding. She was a true animal lover throughout her life.

Following retirement, Elsie and Art moved to Mathews, where she and Chris Sheridan recorded all of the tombstones in the county. Their work, “Tombstones of Mathews County,” was published by the Mathews County Historical Society in 1988. Arthur died in 1989, and in 1995, Elsie married Captain Lawrence P. Treadwell Jr., USN-ret. They returned to Mathews following a short time in Florida. In 2003, Elsie and Lawrence moved to Rappahannock Westminster-Canterbury (RW-C), Irvington.

Survivors include her husband, Lawrence; her son, Arthur “Ace” Ernst, M.D. (Jana); grandson, Adam; Larry, Chris and Elizabeth Treadwell, Amy Dick, Kadie Parsley and their families.

A memorial service and reception will take place at RW-C on Friday, Oct. 24 at 11 a.m. A graveside service will be held on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 11 a.m. in Christ Church Cemetery, Mathews.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to one’s favorite charity.