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Edwina Ladner Luke
Edwina Rebecca Ladner was bom on May 16, 1891 in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. She was the daughter of Alcide Ladner and Cecile Seube. She was one of 13 children, her siblings being Gaston (unmarried), Lillian (married to Herman Fayard), Delmas (married Robbie Odom), Sadie (married to Fred Roemer), Alcida (married to Thomas James), Russell (married to Beulah Burch), Esther (married to Harry Witter), Mable (married to Jack Bosarge), Mathilde (married 1st to J.T. Wimprine, 2nd to Ed Michel), Nolan Ladner (married to Ethel Strahan), Emerita (died of spinal meningitis at 2 years old) and Curtis (killed by train at L&N station). Edwina was baptized on June 9, 1891 at Our Lady of the Gulf Catholic Church in Bay St. Louis.
As a young girl, Edwina eloped and married Forest Luc/Luke, son of Michel Luc and Josephine Guzman, on September 7, 1907. They had 8 children: Ethel Agnes, Juanita Augusta, Elsie Cecile, Forest Joseph, Leroy Thomas, Foster Michael, Edith Angeline, and Ileana Mae.
Edwina, who enjoyed writing, documented her elopement, marriage, and child-rearing experiences in a short story, which not only recorded the family's history but gave a slice of life of the Bay St. Louis of the early 1900's. In the story, she told how she had to rush to make it to the wedding ceremony on time: "I told him to wait until Sunday after church, but he wouldn't. He was in a hurry, as he had already secured the license three or four days before. I will never forget. I was busy working and his brother came to tell me to come on, my lover and the judge were waiting for us to perform the ceremony. So, I picked up my lunch bucket and started out and my brother asked me where I was going. I told him I would be right back. My old aunt called to me and said this is not dinnertime, but I kept going. I got in a wagon and went to his sister's house, and when I got there, the judge had left. He said he couldn't wait. So being the judge left, my future sister-in-law said she was going to bring me a pair of shoes and stockings. When she was gone, the judge came, and when she got back, I was married. Therefore, I married in my stocking feet, but of course, I didn't care just so I was married and we could be together."
Apart from the trauma of World War II, the couple enjoyed a long and happy marriage,-celebrating their fiftieth wedding anniversary at their home at 301 DeMontluzin Ave. In the 1940's, two of the sons were called to serve in World War II. Sgt. Leroy T. Luke served with the 132nd Ord. Co. in Holland. Pfc. Forest J. Luc served with the 407 Infantry. They were both sent overseas to Normandy in the same convoy without either knowing the other was making the trip. Soon thereafter, they met in France in October for the first time in more than three years. It was to be their last meeting, as only a month later; Pfc. Forest J. Luc was killed in action. He was 26 years old. His body was returned from Europe following the war and laid to rest with full military honors in St. Mary's Cemetery in the family burial plot.
Edwina died at the age of 67 at the family residence at 10:25 p.m. on Wednesday March 7, 1959 following a long illness. The funeral was at Fahey Funeral home followed by a funeral mass at Our Lady of the Gulf Catholic Church with interment at St. Mary's Cemetery.
For further information on this family, please refer to The Descendants of Guillaume Guerry, A Study of the Guerry/Luc Guerry/Luc/Luke Family, Circa 1790 to the Present compiled by Harry Ward. This study was prepared for the family reunion in 1989, marking the family's 168th year in Bay St. Louis. A copy has been placed in the Hancock County Historical Society in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.