One of the workers that Jim Ogletree admired the most was Jesse Ladd.
The 25-year-old Union High School graduate was intelligent, hard-working and an overcomer.
“He had to overcome a lot in his life,” said Ogletree, owner of the Union Piggly Wiggly where Ladd was employed. “He never complained even though he probably had a right to more than anyone else. He worked hard, became the top student in his graduating class. He did everything the right way.”
Ladd, a current student at East Central Community College in their surgical program and an airman first class with the 186th Refueling Wing of Meridian, died Jan. 29 in a single-vehicle car crash on Hwy. 505 in Neshoba County.
Neshoba County Sheriff Tommie Waddell said his vehicle spun out and rolled over several times in the incident.
Ogletree said Ladd was on his way into work when the crash happened.
“It’s just a shock to everyone,” Ogletree said. “He was such a great kid and had everything going in the right direction for him. It’s just so sad that this happened. I just feel like he was robbed (of life).”
Ladd was an honor graduate of Union High School in 2012. He was voted into the UHS Hall of Fame, the school’s most prestigious honor. He also received numerous subject area awards and was named STAR student, denoting that he had the highest ACT score (scored in his 30s) in his graduating class. He attended Mississippi State University and previously worked as an EMT with Lifecare.
Deanna Rush, counselor at Union High School, knew Ladd since he was a middle school student. She said she saw him grow and develop into a “young man that I and so many of you deeply, deeply loved.” She said his transcript is full of near-perfect grades, although at times he didn’t have to work too hard to achieve those grades.
“You see, he could sometimes be a bit of a procrastinator, and he’d often rush in to finish up an assignment that was due in the next 10 minutes,” Rush said. “In the early years, I fussed at him about that, but then, I learned that he could throw anything together at the last minute and ace it most of the time.”
However, Rush said Ladd took his science studies very seriously and planned to make that his career path.
“Mr. Hansford remembers that Jesse sat on the front row in (anatomy and physiology) his senior year,” Rush said. “Mr. Hansford told the class they were going to memorize the pathway blood takes through the heart and body, and the very next day, Jesse had it memorized and recited it in front of the class.”
Last fall, Rush said Ladd was getting serious about his education and career, and they discussed the surgical technology program at ECCC. He began that program a few weeks ago in January and was working at the Piggly Wiggly to help himself get through school.
“He still had the desire to enter the medical field, and he felt that this program could give him the chance to earn some money for school and give him operating room experience,” Rush said. “On our last conversation together just a few days before the accident, Jesse told me how much he was loving the program. He was so excited about it, and I could tell he was genuinely enjoying it. I also have loved getting to see Jesse at the Piggly Wiggly over the last several months. Jesse was right at home there because he was getting to help people and visit with those who had loved him for a long time.”
