David & Israel Ladner

In 1928, following the death of his wife, the former Agnes Berger, Austrian native Harry Ladner admitted his two sons — David (8) and Israel Edward (“Pinky”) (5) — to the Home from Port Arthur, Texas. Older sisters Pearl and Hattie went to live with relatives.

During his nine years in the Home, David performed in several of the anniversary celebrations. In 1937, after attending Isidore Newman School in the lower grades, David completed his high school education at Samuel J. Peters High School, where his oboe playing earned him a four-year scholarship to Loyola University College of Music.

During World War II, David served in the Army’s 479th truck battalion in Italy and France. Early morning on June 6, 1944, according to his memoir, Technician 4th Grade Ladner found himself standing on the top bridge of a tank landing ship watching the invasion of Utah Beach in Normandy, France. With an MP’s gun pointed at their heads, Ladner’s company had been ordered to not pick up survivors in the water because, if captured, they might be forced to reveal secret information. When finally permitted, Ladner and his company transported wounded soldiers from the water to the hospital ship. Two weeks later, from “somewhere in France,” Ladner wrote to Home Superintendent Harry Ginsburg, enclosing a donation: “Many times during my tour in the Service I have thought of the pleasant years spent in the Home… I am sorry to hear that so many of my old friends have been killed as a result of this war, and do hope that it will soon be over so we all might go back to a normal life again.” For his heroism, David received several medals including the Croix de Guerre with Palms.

In 1948, David married Maxine Weiss, the daughter of Morris Weiss and Rachel Caplan Weiss. Years earlier, Rachel had lived in the Home with her brothers Mike and Harry.

David and Maxine raised a family in New Orleans, where he worked as a manager of a trucking business. In 1973, three years after Maxine died, David married Gertrude Mazie.

David died in 2005 and was buried in Gates of Prayer Cemetery in New Orleans.

During his twelve years in the Home, as a student at Isidore Newman School, Israel Edward participated in a “show-and-tell” event with his second grade class, performed as a Spanish marine in an operetta with the glee club, and later earned a junior varsity football letter. He celebrated his confirmation at Congregation Gates of Prayer in 1936. A few months before his discharge in 1940, Israel finished his high school education at Samuel J. Peters High School of Commerce for Boys and attended Louisiana State University until he enlisted in the Air Corps in 1943.

 By 1950, Israel was working as an accountant for a chemical plant while living in Jefferson, Texas with his sister Pearl and her family. In 1955, he married Christine Browning Kadash and moved to North Carolina where he worked as a Certified Public Accountant.

Israel Edward died in 1994 in Smithfield, North Carolina.