Hope Chandler Hearst died peacefully at her home in Honolulu on Wednesday. She was 90.

Born Hope Chandler in 1921 in New York City, Mrs. Hearst was a child actress and model, and famously graced a 1937 cover ofLife Magazine as the "Prettiest Girl in Paradise." In 1938, in New York's Grace Church, she married David Whitmire Hearst, son of William Randolph Hearst and a vice president and director of Hearst Corp.

The young couple moved to Beverly Hills, where Mrs. Hearst's husband began his career with the Los Angeles Evening Herald-Express. She gave birth to two children, Millicent Hearst Boudjakdji and David Whitmire Hearst Jr.

"Together, David and Hope Hearst exhibited the highest level of support as Hearst Corp. grew and changed," said Frank A. Bennack Jr., CEO of Hearst Corp. "And long after her husband's death, Hope regularly assumed the role of cheerleader, encouraging Hearst management in every way."

After her husband's death in 1986, Mrs. Hearst moved permanently to Hawaii, a place the Hearsts first visited as a newly married couple. She loved Hawaii and her many friends and family members there. Mrs. Hearst was happiest surrounded by her family and adored pets in the living room of her Honolulu home.

"She was a remarkable, loving, and joyful woman," said her granddaughter Anissa B. Balson, a director of Hearst Corp., which owns The Chronicle, and a trustee of the trust established under the will of William Randolph Hearst. "We will all miss her very, very much."

Mrs. Hearst is survived by her brother, Warren Coley of Hawaii; her son, David W. Hearst Jr., of California and Hawaii; her grandchildren, Balson, Cherif Boudjakdji andSamia Staehle; and her four great-grandchildren.

In addition to her husband, she is predeceased by her daughter Boudjakdji, who was president of the William Randolph Hearst Foundation, a director of Hearst Corp. and trustee of the trust established under the will of William Randolph Hearst.