Carla Anne Ernst, 68, of Wauwatosa, died June 5, 2019. She passed peacefully in her sleep at her home of a sudden blot clot to the lung. Carla was active in the Milwaukee area as an author, corporate communications writer, church member, musician, and a great friend to many.

Carla was born March 16, 1951 and was raised in Glencoe, IL. She attended New Trier High School and University of Kansas School of Journalism. Carla led her communications firm, CarlaAnne Communications and founded The Writer's Block, a consortium of writers and editors. Earlier in life, she served in senior-level communications roles for GE Healthcare, Johnson & Johnson, Hill & Knowlton and Burson-Marsteller in New York. She produced films and music for television such as Fifty Years to Mackinac and To Dance for Gold. From 1986 to 2001, she lived in Darien, CT, with her family, where she enjoyed living near the Long Island Sound.

In June 2018, Carla published her memoir Life Without Pockets: My Long Journey into Womanhood and spoke about the book across the state. In 2016, Carla was included as a subject in "Our Trans Family," an exhibition featuring photographs of transgender people and their families in Wisconsin. For fun, Carla loved going ʺUpNortʺ to her family's summer lake cottage on Gilbert Lake in Wild Rose. There you could find her sailing on a Sunfish, with or without wind. For many years, Carla enjoyed the company of her American foxhound Louie, who she lightheartedly called her "life partner."

Carla will be remembered as a woodwind instrumentalist (clarinet, flute, and saxophone), jazz aficionado, and in recent years, a member of the Wauwatosa Community Band and the Waupaca City Band. Carla also participated in and contributed to the work of multiple voluntary organizations in Wisconsin and Chicago, including the Gilbert Lake Advancement Association, The Salvation Army, PFLAG Milwaukee, Blind Outdoor Leisure Development, and as a board member of Deaf Unity.

Carla brought humor, fun and creativity everywhere she went. She lived in the spirit of the Greek word "eudaimonia": meaning happiness, human flourishing, or the state of having a good, indwelling spirit. She will be greatly missed.

Carla is preceded in death by parents Ann Marie Conant and Roger W. Ernst. She is survived by her two daughters, Sarah Ernst and Margaret Ernst (Michael Verla), siblings Barbara Kolich (Robert), Susan Corser (Patrick), Sally Williams (Mike), Thomas W. Ernst (Lita), George W. Ernst (Jill), and Mary Elizabeth Nugent (Peter), and many nieces and nephews.

A Celebration of Life Service will be Monday, June 17, at 2:00 pm, at the First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee with Rev. Jennifer Nordstrom officiating.

Condolences can be sent to Hartson Funeral Home, 11111 W Janesville Rd, Hales Corners, WI 53130. Contributions in Carla's memory can be made to: PFLAG Milwaukee, c/o Georgia Henry, W233 S5251 Cottontail Trail, Waukesha, WI 5318; Gilbert Lake Advancement Association Inc (GLAAI), Bill Miland, Treasurer, 3001 N. McDonald St., Appleton, WI 54911; First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee, 1342 N. Astor St., Milwaukee, WI 5320.