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Our Lady of the Angels (OLA) School Fire, December 1, 1958
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Personal Experiences with Our Lady of the Angels School Fire

If you have a personal experience, recollection or opinion about the December 1, 1958 Our Lady of the Angels school fire, whether you were present at the fire or not, you can relate it here. Any story or information is welcome as long as it relates to Our Lady of the Angels school fire.
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Posted by: Arthur On: 12/3/2004 ID: 205
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Massachusetts
I was eighteen on December 1, 1958, and will never forget the horror that I felt as I watched the reports of the fire on television. I can still hear the reporter describing the process of identification of the dead - in particular the description of one of the girls by what she was wearing. Without exception, my mind has recalled this tragedy on the first of Decemember every year since then. As a father - and now grandfather - the meaning of this tragedy has become more profound.


Posted by: Ann Orbon (DeChristopher) On: 12/2/2004 ID: 204
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Chicago, Illinois
When this horrible tragedy occurred I was 15 years old and was attending
Foreman High School on the Northwest side of Chicago. I was in German class and getting ready to bolt out of the school since that was my last class of the day. My German teacher was interrupted by another one the teachers, and there was whispering going on and all of us kids were looking at each other wondering what was going on. It was approximately 3:00 P.M. if my memory serves me correctly. My teacher then looked up and told the class that there was a fire going on at Our Lady of the Angels School and some children may possibly be trapped and we should all say a prayer.The bell rang and I raced home. You see, my cousin Phillip DeChristopher went to O.L.A. and was in 8th grade (13 years old) and about to graduate that next June. When I arrived home both my mother and father were home early from work and we jumped into the car and drove as quickly as possible to my aunt and uncles house. When we arrived my aunt & uncle were not home, but their landlady was standing on the front porch and crying "Phillip's hurt, he's at Franklin Blvd. hospital."Well to make a long story short, after we prayed and prayed, Phillip recovered from his injuries but many of his classmates did not survive. You see, his classroom was on the top floor and many could not escape. He was able to escape out the window but fell in the process. God had a plan for Phillip. He went on to medical school and became a doctor who is on staff at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago. I pray for all those who perished and I thank God for Phillip. Please, all of you, do not forget. I never do. Light a candle. Visit the graves at Queen of Heaven cemetary. And hug and love your children and grandchildren. And most of all, know that faith pulls all of us through. I know this is true for myself, my family, and especially my cousin, Phillip John DeChristopher, M.D.


Posted by: Vivian (Guercio) James On: 12/2/2004 ID: 203
Enrolled on 12/1/58? Present on 12/1/58? Injured? Age Grade Classroom Teacher
Yes Yes No 9 4 108 Sister Mary Rufino B.V.M.
I lit a candle today (Dec. 1, 2004) as I have done every year on Dec. 1st for my schoolmates that I lost in the fire. I was in the fourth grade and in a classroom on the first floor, room 108, I remember, at the beginning of the year, I was disappointed that I was not in one of the classrooms on the second floor with the "big kids" I guess God had a different plan for me. I remember that day, very well. We were getting ready to go to the cloakroom to put our coats and leggings on. The fire alarm rang and we all filed out and stood across the street. At first we thought it was just a fire drill but when we went across the street we could see the smoke and flames on the second floor of the school. Sister Mary Rufino wanted to get us away from the school so she had us line up and walk to the church and pray. We were only in the church for a few minutes before someone screamed out that the church was on fire, at which time we all ran out. I ran all the way home and when I arrived at the front door my Mother could see I didn't have my coat or leggings on. She opened the door ready to reprimand me for not having my coat on but when I told her what happened she immediately got on the phone to family to try and locate my cousins, who thank God, were all safe. In August of 1958 my family moved to California. Whenever I visit Chicago I always try to take the time to go to the cemetery and say a prayer at the site of all the children’s graves from O.L.A.


Posted by: R. Gordon On: 11/27/2004 ID: 202
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Park Ridge, IL
My Father was a doctor who was affiliated with Walther Memorial and Saint Annes Hospitals in Chicago. I was born in Saint Annes Hospital. On the day of the fire, I was 12 years, two months old.

I remember the night of the fire very well. Dad got an emergency call to go to the hospital that day and returned in the evening. I never knew which hospital called him in but concluded it was St Annes.

Dad was horribly affected by what he saw that day. He had been a combat surgeon in WW2 and saw a lot but he sat in tears, stunned and quiet in our kitchen after returning from that scene. The "thousand yard stare" seen in combat vets summed it up well.

He was concerned that he would be called back later so I got some flashlights and batteries ready in case he needed them. I didn't know what else to do.

I fully realized what happened when news and magazines covered the fire for some time afterwards. The picture I remember most showed doors which were jammed shut. As I recall, they opened inward and could not be used against a crush of people trying to escape. My God, what a horror!

May God be with the departed kids, the families and the survivors. My prayers are with them.


Posted by: Mary Thomas On: 11/19/2004 ID: 201
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Des Moines, Iowa
I was attending a Catholic grade school (6th grade?) in 1958. To this day I remember kneeling down in the classroom and praying for those children. I have been afraid of fire since that time. When my children, and now grandchildren, ask why fire scares me I relate the horror of this tragic fire. Of all the events since that day, this one ranks up there among the worst in my memory. God bless all those who were personally touched........including me.
Mary Thomas Rittgers
Holy Trinity
Des Moines, Iowa
now San Antonio, Texas


Posted by: Peggy On: 10/12/2004 ID: 200
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No After n/a
On December 1st, 1958, I was 11 years old and a relatively new student in the 6th grade at Oliver Wendell Holmes School in Oak Park. My family moved to Oak Park over the summer so my father, recently put on inactive duty with the Navy Reserves, could teach school at Elmwood Park High School.

On that fateful day, the whole world seemed to stand still as the Chicago area watched and read the horror of the Our Lady of Angels School fire. I was deeply affected by the awful physical and emotional pain that the children, their parents, and the rescuers endured.

The next day, when students returned to Holmes School after lunch, the fire alarm rang. There was no smoke or fire. It was just a drill-- inspired, I suppose, from the tragedy of the day before. The entire student body filed out of the school silently, somberly.

I have been a teacher in public schools in the Midwest since 1969, and I have never, before or since, experienced a fire drill that held such drama and reverence. I live in Indiana now, but with the first fire drill of each school year, I recount the story of the OLA disaster to my students, hoping that they will come to understand the fragility of life. The precious lives that were lost at OLA have saved many others due to fire safety changes, but it doesn't change the reality of what happened that day in early December. I am a grandmother now. I simply can't imagine how those dear families survived the emotional devastation of losing their children and grandchildren that way.


Posted by: Maryann Gorman Smith On: 10/3/2004 ID: 199
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Skokie, Illinois
I was in third grade at St. Peter School in Skokie, Illinois at the time of the OLA fire. While we were told the importance of fire drills because of the fire, it wasn't until I was an adult that I learned the real significance of this tragedy.

During the past five years I have been working as a teacher for the Archdiocese of Chicago, and the story of the OLA fire has come to mean even more to me. I have gathered every resource I could about the OLA fire, articles, books, websites, video, CD, etc., and I began to teach my students about the fire and its effect upon the neighborhood, the parish, the Archdiocese, and the country. I concentrate on the story of Sister Geraldita's 5th/6th grade classroom because of its inspiration to the students and to me. Sister Geraldita is my heroine, and I always promise my students that if anything ever happened at our school, I would get them out, just as Sister did. I had sixth grade students write journal entries as if they had been survivors of the fire, and their insights were remarkable.

Students relate well to the story of the fire, and it teaches them compassion and charity. It is a story of Chicago history and Archdiocesan history that should never be forgotten, and as long as I work for the Archdiocese, it will be remembered and honored.


Posted by: Timothy J. Hughes On: 9/15/2004 ID: 198
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Chicago's South Side
The Our lady of Angels Fire in Chicago is my first memory as a child. I was a five year old boy who would attend 12 years of Catholic schools in Chicago. Additionally, my family had been fire fighters in Chicago since the late 1800's. A number of my cousins, uncles and my Grandfather were at the fire working for the Chicago Fire Department. In every case I have seen the anguish in their eyes as they have discussed this tragic day. My Grandfather, who was a high ranking officer at the time of the fire, had a very difficult time talking about this fire until the day he died in the late 1970’s. My Uncle Harry, now in his 70’s, who I’m told was the first fireman to enter the room with the children still in their seats praying with their teacher, a Nun, has had the mental scars from that memory until this day.

We, some of my brothers and sisters, were with my mother shopping on Chicago’s southeast side. I don’t recall if we heard it on the car radio or if others in the crowd shopping informed us, but I knew it was a Catholic School and the word were that there were many dead. I remember thinking about my family members and if they would be in harms way. I will never forget the look on my Mothers face as she stopped us all to say a prayer for the children, the Nuns and the fire fighters. That evening I remember listening to the radio and watching the local news and our phone ringing with confirmation that my family members had been on the scene and, thankfully, all were safe.

Finally, I remember the talk over the years as I grew up. The terrible memory of those lost but how my family members discussed how and increase in fire safety, long overdue, was being instituted. While these measures were too little and too late for those people that perished I always thought my Grandfather took great pride in some of the things he was able to push through as he rose further in the Chicago Fire department and later became the State Fire Marshall of Illinois.

Timothy J. Hughes
Tempe, Arizona
858-414-6091


Posted by: J Matarrese On: 8/22/2004 ID: 197
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before 400 N Monticello
I went to Ryerson Public School,every Wednesday we would go to OLA for our CCD classes getting a half day off of school. That day Of the fire was monday I remember very clear I got out of school about 2pm and there was thick black smoke in the sky toward the church. It was so strange because all you could hear was the sounds of sirens.I ran home and my father who washed windows for the church went right away with his ladders to see if he could go help.As anyone who lived that nightmare knows it seemed like those sirens never stopped all night. Then we had the visitation for the 92 children in the church, and the nuns who had their wake in the convent.We later had Mass and CCd in the Alamo.That day touched a lot of people. I hope the suffering can be lifted with all our prayers , bless you all that were in the school that day,or lost a loved one.


Posted by: Guy A. On: 8/19/2004 ID: 196
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Bradley, Illinois
The 1958 fire at Our Lady of the Angels is an event I shall always remember. At the time, I was 10 years old and attending St. Joseph's grade school in Bradley, Illinois, about 60 south of Chicago. This two story wooden school building had an extremely narrow wooden staircase leading to the top floor. To make matters worse, the outside of the building was covered in highly flamable tar paper. I was afarid for weeks afterwards that a similar fate would happen at St. Joseph's.

While the nuns were clearly horrified by this event, one of them said shortly thereafter that, "God has a speical love for people who burn to death." It was a remark I have never forgotten or understood.

Out of all the tragic memories of this event, the one that will always stay with me concerns a man who lost his son at Our Lady of the Angels. Days before the fire, he had undergone delicate eye surgery and was told he could not shed one tear or he would be blind for life. I cannot imagine the depth of grief this man dealt with.