Elva Ernestine Phillips, known throughout her life as Ernestine, was born on the 25th of March 1932, in Clovis, New Mexico, the younger daughter of Jewell Anderson (J.A.) Phillips and Zora Elva (Elva) Nettles Phillips. In 1941, she moved with her family to Greeley, Colorado, and considered Greeley and Evans her hometown for the rest of her life, living in Evans permanently from 1974.

She was baptized into Christ at Greeley in 1945, and was a member of various churches of Christ the rest of her life, including the old Eighteenth Avenue Church and then the Westview Church in Greeley. She provided much financial support to both local congregations and to mission work in various places, and had close ties with many brothers and sisters in Christ at the Columbine Church in Greeley, the Smoky Hill Church in Aurora, and elsewhere.

Ernestine graduated from College High School in Greeley in 1949, and obtained her bachelor's degree from what is now the University of Northern Colorado (UNC) in 1951, and after attending college at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas, obtained her master's degree in English from UNC in 1956. She taught in a variety of public schools in northern and eastern Colorado, and also taught for the United States Air Force Dependent Schools in England in 1960-1962, using the opportunity to tour much of Europe and the United Kingdom.

In addition to teaching English, she taught art and music in many locations and privately. Together with her mother, she was a professional artist with many works in pen and ink, and watercolor, as well as oils and acrylics, with a great love of landscapes, especially of the Colorado mountains and towns and street scenes in Colorado and Europe. Together with her parents, she was a partner in Builders and Artists Supply, selling artworks, reproductions of her and her mother's works, as well as her father's general contracting and property management activities. Her works grace many homes and public places in Colorado, have been sold as Christmas and other greeting cards for many years, and her home included a large collection of her mother's and her works and those of her sister and many of their students.

Ernestine was an accomplished musician, both vocal and instrumental, including piano, organ, viola, violin and harp. She played in many symphony orchestras in Colorado including in her later years the Antonia Brico Symphony and Jefferson Symphony Orchestra. Ernestine was also a published playwright, specializing in short plays and musicals (collaborating with her sister) for primary and secondary school students. She had many articles on travel published in the 1960s and 1970s. She also maintained an extensive correspondence with many friends, associates, and family members around the world.

She loved and collected old books and movies, loved cats, and remembered with fondness her pet dog and her many cats from childhood on. In addition to her financial contributions to the church, she aided many people financially and in other ways over the years, making a lasting impression on them.

Ernestine passed away at Cottonwood Care Center on the 27th of February, 2016, age 83.

Ernestine was proceeded in death by her parents, her older sister Marian Aline Phillips Barton, and her brother-in-law, Jerry A. Barton. She is survived by two nephews and a niece and their families, and brothers and sisters in Christ.

Memorial gifts may be given to any Gospel evangelist or to Mountain States Children's Home in Longmont.