Alysia Ladner currently serves as the music director for Our Lady of the Gulf Catholic Church. She grew up in Pearlington, Mississippi, where she was always encouraged by her parents, Rodney and Denise Wilkinson, to use her vocal gift. She was part of the choir at the beautiful St. Joseph Catholic Church under the direction of Mrs. Yvonne Vigurie from elementary school through high school. She played French horn for six years in middle and high school band. After Alysia's marriage to Curt Ladner III at Our Lady of the Gulf in 2000, they moved to Annunciation Catholic Church in Kiln, and she joined the choir there.
Early in the course of their 17 years at Annunciation, Alysia and Curt were in the Life Teen band, served in youth ministry and Alysia served as Director of Religious Education until hurricane Katrina. In 2014, at the request of Fr. John Noone, Alysia organized a children's choir which sang at Mass once a month. She enjoyed teaching the children some of our beautiful Latin hymns and chants. Over the years she has also served when called upon to sing at funerals and weddings.
Alysia received a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1999 and taught 5th and 6th grades at East Hancock Elementary for 3 years before deciding to stay home to raise and homeschool her children.
She also teaches a high school writing course and a course on Dante's Divine Comedy for the Classical Hybrid Homeschool Ministry at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church.
Monica Ladner currently serves as pianist/organist at Our Lady of the Gulf. She is the second oldest of Alysia's children. From a very young age she has had a natural gift for harmonizing with her mom any time they would sing, and began teaching herself to play piano and violin by ear. In August of 2017, Monica began taking piano lessons under the excellent direction of Mrs. Carol Mahler of Hidden Acres Music School in Pass Christian. In her first year of piano instruction, she received superior scores at the 49th Annual Bach Festival and the Gulf Coast Music Teachers Association Festival, and was a District Winner of the National Piano Playing Auditions.
Monica is a homeschooled high school sophomore, and teaches a middle school logic and literature course at the Classical Hybrid Homeschool Ministry at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church.
Curt and Alysia currently reside in Kiln, MS with their seven children: Jacob, Monica, Maximilian, Janie, Mariana, John-Paul and Micah (and 3 dogs, a cat, and two cows!)