Jessica Wilbur Ely Hart

1923 - 2014

Jessica Wilbur Ely Hart Jessica Wilbur Ely Hart, 90, died of cardiac arrest at her home in Ross, on June 29, 2014. She had lived in Ross for 65 years. Mrs. Hart was a 4th generation Californian, born in Palo Alto on October 2, 1923, to Jessica Wilbur Ely and Leonard Wheeler Ely, M.D. Her grandfather, Ray Lyman Wilbur, M.D. was President of Stanford University for 25 years and Secretary of the Interior under President Hoover. Mrs. Hart was in the Stanford University class of 1944 and graduated in 1945 from St. Luke's Nursing School, San Francisco, having become a nurse to support the war effort. She was a member of the Colonial Dames of America and a 64-year member of Town and Country Club. A passionate community volunteer, Mrs. Hart was admired for her down- to-earth-humanity, her dry sense of humor, her courage to speak her mind, and her belief in the standards and values of a vanishing world. She was a generous supporter of the California Pacific Medical Center and a member of its Board of Counselors from 1990-2000, determined that her efforts (and those of others) would always make a difference to the hospital. Highlights of her life were racing her sailboat on Duxbury Bay, MA, traveling abroad with her grandchildren, and spending summers in the Sierra with her extended family. There she developed a special bond with her grandfather, with whom she hiked and studied the natural world. She has passed on the lessons she learned from him including fairness, compassion, and how to make a good cornbread. Mrs. Hart is survived by her four children, Margaret (Edison Lewis), Douglas (Lydia), George (Sarah), and Bruce (Liz) Hart; and ten grandchildren, Hope (Seth Fenner), Kate, and George Lewis; Andrew and Beckett Hart; Derith (James Andrew) and Ross Hart; Katie (Nathan Aims), Courtney (Brad Moschetti), and Bruce Hart; and two great granddaughters, Grace and Lillian Andrew. Her husband of 52 years, George David Hart, and her siblings George Ely, Agnes Berg, and twin brother Leonard Ely, predeceased her. Her family is grateful to Consolacion Mariano ("Zon") for 17 years of devoted care and friendship; and to her granddaughter, Kate, for her loving support and commitment to ensuring that all of her days were lived to the fullest. A memorial service will be at 2 pm on September 27, 2014, at St. John's Church in Ross, CA. The family requests that donations be made to California Pacific Medical Center Foundation at 2015 Steiner Street, San Francisco 94115.