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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: Fran (Panno) S. On: 2/10/2003 ID: 55
Enrolled on 12/1/58? Present on 12/1/58? Injured? Age Grade Classroom Teacher
Yes Yes Yes 10 5 212 Sister Therese
I have never really had the opportunity to talk about this much..and actually hestitated to do it now. I watched the program on channel

11, and from there I found this website. The really strange part is, I dont live in Chicago anymore, but I flew in the day before the program aired to be with my mother as she was having surgery, and I saw an article in the newspaper about the program. I guess I was suppose to see it.

The night before the fire, I layed in bed and kept having a sense of fear... I told my mother something bad is going to happen at school, I had no vision of fire, just a sense of fear, but it was strong, she just told be to go to sleep and stop being silly. The next morning I still had the feeling, so strong in fact that I refused to go to school, I cried and carried on, my mother was convinced that I didnt do my homework and was afraid to go to class, but I was afraid, and kept on saying something bad is going to happen, as it turned out, she let me stay home that morning because it got late from all the carrying on , but at lunchtime she said YOU WILL GO TO SCHOOL....and I did!

I can honestly say I dont think about it much... I dont want to...but this week I cant seem to stop thinking about it.

We were at our desks in room 212 and I can still see the page in the book... It was Geography.. and there was a picture of children sitting on a beach somewhere, I can still see the seashells in that picture. I remember hearing what sounded like a choir, Sister even said " maybe they are practicing in the church " but later it was said there was no one singing in the church... to this day Im convinced it was the Angels coming to escort the children to heaven. I can still hear little Robert Anglim (he sat in the first row, right by the door) say... Sister... smoke!!!! it was seeping in trough the door... but he couldnt open it...It was rattling, and then Sister tried, but there was really nothing she could do either,we couldnt get out of the room, so she told us to stay at our desks and pray. We did that for awhile, but soon it was all out of control...from here my memory is out of focus... The room filled with smoke so fast... you couldnt see... somehow I was blessed and sat in the row next to the windows, but I didnt know what to do.. The boys started throwing books and things to break the widows and soon everyone in the room was pushing against me to reach the windows for air or escape. I was holding a girl named Maria's hand.. Maria was a bit older than the rest of us.. she was from Italy and didnt speak English well, I use to take her to my Grandmothers house for lunch sometimes. My grandmother lived on Iowa and Lawndale.. and she use to speak to Maria in Italian... anyway Maria started to laugh and I remember telling her this isnt funny Maria... I didnt realize then that it was hysterical laughter. Maria and I were seperated there at the windows and somehow I lived and she didnt.

I crawled up on the window ledge and stratled the ledge with one leg outside and one over the radiator.. one hand on that handle on the window and the other one trying to wave smoke away but it was so thick... I remember telling my mother later that it was like mashed potatoes. There was a boy hanging from the sill... I couldnt breathe anymore.. and the children behind me were pushing so hard that I felt that soon I would have to jump.. I couldnt see out the window and honestly thought the firemen werent going to come.. but the boy hanging from the sill ( and I never did see who it was, although I think it was a boy named Frank M. ) He said dont jump they are coming now.. and then I saw a fireman help the boy down.. and reach up for me... I climbed out into his arms, but the latter was short, he got me and led me down and when I hit the air I must of passed out I never remembered getting to the ground, I just remember coming to.. and seeing total chaos. bodies on the ground, flames in room 210 and kids sitting lined up along the wall across the alley.. and thats where I figured I should be.. but somehow I heard my mothers voice in that crowd.. and I crawled up to here and pulled on her coat and said Here I am Mommy... she scooped me up and carried me into the convent... but then I guess she decided she would try to go to my Grandmothers house.. as she walked out carrying me a fireman took over he carried me to an ambulance and we ended up in Franklin Pk hospital... and things were crazy there too.. so much terror going on, parents looking for their children, Hospital staff trying to keep up. I was bandaged on my arms and sent home. My dad was driving home from work and met us at the house... it seemed the whole neighborhood was standing there in front of the house. I was home for about an hour... and throwing up soot... and my ears were burnt badly, no one seemed to notice that at first... I went back to another hospital I was put into an oxygen tent and my burns were tended to there, but that night I was left there alone, most likely in shock, I still dont know why my parents werent allowed to stay. I do remember a firefighter coming in to see me the next morning, he was also a patient, but no one really talked to me. I saw a newspaper, but no one would let me look through it. I was so lucky or blessed, my burns were mostly 2nd degree except for a few 3rd on my arms. my hair was scorched... it was long and in a pony tail.. I remember having it cut off a few weeks later. I smelled smoke on my body for the longest time, as though it had permiated my skin. for awhile,I was so araid of the dark, that I had to have lights on at night. I was afraid of buses or elevators, anything where the doors closed. I still dont like elevators, and flying is so hard for me to do. Im sorry to ramble on... Im not sure there is any real reason to write any of this... but no one ever let me talk not my parents....NO ONE! Whenever I am in a theater,or hotel, or any public assembly, I still search out the exits. I cant light a barbeque, To this day... I always minimize my own pain and just move on...I accept things I probably shouldnt. Yet I tend to everyone elses needs, maybe too much, but I never want anyone to feel the way I feel inside..(overlooked) My husband passed away 5yrs ago and his family was all buried at Queen Of Heaven... so now I have visited the graves of all the victims buried there.

MY children are the only ones who have ever really heard this story... to this day my parents dont want to talk about it. And Im sad to say.. I dont feel real close to them. I respect them but I think Im healthier away from Chicago. The city or the Church.. should offer counceling..Yes, even now, 45yrs later...since there was none available then... And I will freely say that anyone involved..had their lives profoundly affected... weather they realize it or not.

I now live in Florida... and all I can say is... We survived for a reason...and whenever I question Gods presence.. I still remind myself that I truely think I heard the Angels sing that day!

God bless you all...And to the families that lost a child.. I finally have the chance to say... I'm so very sorry!


Posted by: Patricia Addante On: 2/9/2003 ID: 54
Enrolled on 12/1/58? Present on 12/1/58? Injured? Age Grade Classroom Teacher
Yes Yes No 6 2 104 Mrs Garrett (nee Herlahy)
I was in 2nd grade at OLA the day of the fire. When the fire alarm went off, I thought that it was a fire drill. We knew exactly what to do and so left our room and lined up on the stairs going outside. I turned around to look for the 'older' students who usually lined up on the stairs right behind us since they were on the 2nd floor. That day they were not there and a billow of black smoke surrounded the 2nd floor door. That's when I knew that it was a real fire. My class was brought across the street in front of the convent. From there I could see children screaming for help from the 2nd floor windows. For years I wondered if they had survived. I found out while reading 'To Sleep With The Angels' that no children died in that particular room.

Because we had no coats and it was a cold winter day, we were eventually brought into the church. From there we were told to go into a neighborhood home and call our parents. I had a friend who lived across the street from the church on Hamlin Ave. I went to her home and her mother called my mother asking her to bring a coat and pick me up. Thank goodness my mother got the phone call before she knew about the fire, or she would have left the house to look for me and been frantic.

I have no physical scars from that day, but the fire affected me in ways that I'm still discovering as an adult. We did not talk about what happened either at home or at school. That was the way people dealt with situations in those days. They felt the less said,the better and just get on with life.

Fortunately, I have had opportunities to meet with other survivors through the Friends of OLA which was organized by Linda Maffiola. I also have read the book 'To Sleep With The Angels'. Though it has been difficult to bring up these memories and emotions, this is what is helping me to heal.

The children and nuns who were lost that day and all of the people affected by this tragedy will always be in my heart.


Posted by: Charlene Campanale On: 2/9/2003 ID: 53
Enrolled on 12/1/58? Present on 12/1/58? Injured? Age Grade Classroom Teacher
Yes Yes Yes 9 4 210 Sr. Serraphica
I was in grade 4 in Room 210 with Sr. Serraphica at the time of the fire. We all smelled smoke, and kept interrupting the lesson to tell the nun, but she dismissed it as "burning leaves" which was allowed at that time. Then the smell kept getting stronger, but within two minutes of our first noticing the smell, their was thick dark itense smoke pouring in over the transom. We all gasped and she ordered us to stand up and pray the rosary. She went to the back door of the classroom and pushed it open, but the fire gases blew this door open very hard and it pushed her against the back wall. We all gasped as we were so used to being in control. We all lost control at that point, stopped praying and ran for the windows. The nun ordered the bigger boys in our room to lower the upper windows. I saw her waving her hands and trying to hush us down. Everyone was screaming, crying and pounding on the window sills asking for help, crying for their mommies.

The people on the pavement included mothers, the grocery store owner from across the alley we were facing and they were telling us not to jump, the firemen would be coming soon. My best friend, Janet Gasetier, came up to me. She was crying and her skin was full of red and white blotches, she screamed to me, "Charlene, Charlene, I'm so scared!" and I don't even remember saying anything, crying or screaming at all, as I was totally numb. I felt like I was in a nightmare, and I seemed to be disconnecting to reality. I kept remembering the commercials over the summer that said "if your're drowning, don't panic" and I kept saying that to myself. I could see Room 212 on one side of me that had the fifth graders just as hysterical as we were. I could also see Room 208 which had the sixth graders on the other side of our room, also hysterical. The other rooms had some boys that were now jumping out of the windows. I remember thinking that I wished I was older and bigger, but I wasn't. I saw many of the adults on the pavement praying the rosary, kneeling, crying, screaming and pulling their hair out in hysteria. The pavement looked like a war zone to me, with many of the window jumpers covered with blood. I noticed that the ones who jumped were either laying very still on the pavement, which I read as a little child would, "just resting". I also noticed that some of the window jumpers were propped up against the opposite side of the alley with blood streaming down their faces, and that some of them were talking to each other--this gave me the idea that you could jump and be ok. I also spotted one of my former neighbors, Johanna Uting, laying face down on the pavement, but as she turned around, I could see her leg was split completely open and covered with blood. As I looked down at her I knew that if she could do it, I could do it, too.

I took off my glasses and threw them down on the pavement below, and wished that I could be where my glasses were. I was now choking and coughing from the smoke and so was everyone else. I was having trouble breathing, so I felt I had to get out. I started to climb up on the window sill, but each time I tried, a group of boys behind me grabbed my blouse and legs and pulled me back in telling me not to jump as I would hurt myself. I remember the firemen coming and the ladders were put in the other classroom windows first, and everyone was pounding and screaming for them to put the ladders in our windows, but some of the ladders were too short anyways. Everyone cheered when they saw the firemen pulling up as they assumed they would rescue all of us.
Finally, I got up on the window sill and kicked backwards and wiggled away from the boys who tried to stop me, I had to fight to get out of that window. I climbed up on the outer ledge of the window and remember standing straight up. At that point, I either passed out or jumped as I went into shock.

My grandmother came to get me and kept screaming my name as she said there were so many bodies she could not see mine. As she called my name, I answered her with "Grandma, I am here!" yet I was still in shock and do not remember saying that. I started to gain consciousness when she and two other young women were carrying me to her car and layed me in the back seat. I remember the two women crying and saying "the poor dear." My grandmother was crying, swearing and praying in Polish. She drove to our house and into the grocery store, Sally's, on Thomas and Springfield that was next door. She left the back door of the car open and ran inside the house to phone my mom at work. The owners of the store, Stanley and Sally, and the customers as well, walked into the back door area of the car and peered in at me. When my grandmother came out, Stanley told her not to drive as she was too hysterical, and he got in the car to drive. She was in the front seat with him. Stanley drove very fast and was pulled over by a policman who scolded him for driving too fast. My grandmother and Stanley screamed out that there had been a school fire and that there will be others rushing to hospitals. He then told them never to drive that way or they would kill all of us. He then put on his siren and escorted us to the hospital.

At the hospital, they pulled up a stretcher by the car and the nurses and orderlies started to pull me out of the back seat, this is when I had my first feeling of huge pain. I screamed as they got me on the stretcher, and rushed me into the x-ray room where they started to cut my uniform off with scissors. My mother came in, as the doctor asked me where did I feel pain, and I screamed out, "MY BACK!!" and my mother got hysterical at this point, and they escorted her from the room. After x-rays, they wheeled me up to a room and I was not to eat or drink, but my throat was so dry and rough and I kept begging for water. They let my aunt who was crying and praying a rosary blot my lips with a wet washrag, and I kept trying to suck the water out. I was told I was on the critical list, and a priest came in and gave me the last rites. I knew it was the last rites as we had been drilled on what it was at our school.

I was not allowed to turn on my side and told to just lay completely flat on my back which I felt was very uncomfortable without any pillow. I had to remain that way, with head traction and weights pulling my head upwards and with a towel rolled under my spine for three months. During that time, I also had many problems with my intestinal system (probably from lying around so much)that was treated with enemas, which were painful. Because I was at Norwegian American Hospital and not in one of the other hospitals that most of the fire victims went to, I did not get all of the gifts and cards that the others were reported to get. My mother called the newspaper and they published two articles in the Sun-Times and then I got 7,000 cards and gifts the first week alone from around the whole world. The second week I got 4,000 and it kept coming. It eventually took us two years to read and sort through it all, but it kept me busy and distracted at least.
I remember one woman, named Mary Martin, who actually sent me a present a day, who lived in Kalamzoo, Michigan. Also, Jim Moran, the courtesy motors man, who had a car business in our neighborhood, invited all of the fire victims to a gathering where Cisco Kid was there and we had box lunches of fried chicken and then a shriner carried me up a flight of stairs to see the circus. He also offered to buy us anything we wanted--and my grandmother wanted me to ask for a stereo unit, which was expensive in those days, so I did.
Anyways, I got out of the hospital the end of February with sitting in a wheelchair and a body cast that covered from my entire torso, but I still had to lay in bed most of the time or sit with the traction device strapped on. I was sent one of the lay teachers to tutor me and they had a group of us which included Teresa Whittaker and Frank Della who came to my home for summer school lessons. I remember seeing how badly burnt they were, and since I was the one not walking they had to come to my home. That summer we were linked to another small group who were being tutored by another teacher, Ms. Coughlin--my teacher was Ms. Tristano. We all got together for a barbeque at Ms. Coughlin's home. All of the fire victims were invited to a special summer overnight camp, but I could not go as I could not walk, so my cousin went for me, and I remember crying about that one.

I continued to have nightmares and would wake up for about the next four years drenched in soaking sweat and had to have my pajamas changed each night in the middle of the night. I had one episode where I saw a shadow move across our front door, and started screaming that it was a fire. My mother got me in the car and drove me to a doctor who never even saw me and perscribed tranquilizers. I was moved to my grandmother's flat which was on the first floor of our two-flat. I felt better on the first floor as I figured I would not have to jump so far if anything were to happen.

After 7 months of the body cast and wheelchair, I was put in a torso brace that allowed to handle some walking. I still could not get up stairs, and had to go to Immaculate Conception School because they had an elevator. I still, emotionally, could not handle going into schools, and my mother had to sit in the office everyday to help me transition to being in a school. Eventually she just kept leaving the school for short breaks, and then stopped coming. On our first fire drill, one little boy in back of me kept teasing me and telling me it was a real fire, and I got hysterical until the nun stopped him and comforted me with telling me it wasn't real.

I returned to Our Lady of the Angels when the new school was built and I was in the sixth grade. Every fire drill made my heart beat very fast and I felt a sense of panic each time. It took me many years to be able to talk about the fire. After meeting my husband at age 19, I did not tell him about the fire until three years later. I also wanted to completely disconnect myself from that fire and remember I avoided talking to the other fire victims who were in my classrooms.
Now, however, I would like to reconnect to them and feel secure enough to talk about this. I eventually became a teacher in Special Education and now work in a school everyday.


Posted by: Jim Grosso On: 2/8/2003 ID: 52
Enrolled on 12/1/58? Present on 12/1/58? Injured? Age Grade Classroom Teacher
Yes Yes No 10 5 206 Ms. Tristano
My name is Jim Grosso and I graduated from OLA in 1962. We were the second class to graduate from the new building. I was in room 206 on the day of the fire, which was on the 2nd floor of that part of the school that connected the 2 wings. It was 45 years ago, and at the time we were discouraged from talking about the fire, so it's certainly possible, if not likely, that all the details may not be exactly correct. In any case, here is what I remember: On the afternoon of the fire, Ms. Tristano sent me and another boy on an errand down to the basement but we never made it. We saw smoke and went back to the room. After what seemed like a long time, but I think was probably a relatively short time, Miss Tristano led us down the stairway and out of the school. On the way out I clearly remember Ms. Tristano pulling the fire alarm, and once we were outside, I remember her sending us home. I remember at the time we left the school building we must have been among the first out of the building, because there were very few other kids around outside the school, and I went home not knowing how bad the fire really was. After reading "To Sleep with the Angels" I learned that at the point we were walking out the front door of the school, the kids in the next class, Room 207, were already trapped and couldn't escape until Fr. Hund and Jim Raymond get them out through the corridor that separated our 2 rooms. Other postings on this site have information somewhat different from what I remember. Specifically, it was said that Ms Tristano took her class to the church, and then went back to pull the fire alarm. I know that I didn't go into the church, and I can clearly remember her pulling the alarm before we left the school. So far I've seen 2 other postings from people who were also in room 206, and I know there must be others out there. Does anyone else from room 206 remember hearing the fire alarm go off as we were leaving the building? Does anyone else remember going directly home vs. going into the church after we left? It seems important to try to get the details as accurate as possible after all these years. The more I read from others who were there, the more I question my own recollections.


Posted by: Rick Giovacchini On: 2/8/2003 ID: 51
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before 432 N. Ridgeway
I attended Ryerson school (public) which was located a few blocks south of OLA. Where I lived, the children either went to Ryerson or OLA, walking to school every day. We all got to know each other pretty good because of those shared walks and because after school, we were outside until it was time to go to bed. It didn't matter where you lived in the "neighborhood", you knew the kids around a couple mile radius. You either were part of the Frank Luchesi baseball or football programs at Kells park on Kedzie & Chicago, or you got together for egg throwing on Halloween, or you even watched the man make sausage in the window on Chicago & Hamlin. Perhaps you bowled at G&L or went to the carnival at Chicago & Pulaski, or even shared a hot dog at Jimmy's. And lets not forget those Saturday cartoon specials at The Alamo when all you needed was a can of food. And does anyone out there remember "Thank You George"

I am trying to tell you that we were one tight knit community, a place I wouldn't trade growing up in. My greatest regret is that the community dispersed in many directions and I feel that I lost part of my childhood because of it.

I was in first grade the day of the fire & remember running to OLA when school got out. I could see the black smoke billowing in the sky from Huron & Lawndale. I got only as far as Hamlin & Iowa. There were people everywhere! Students with blankets around them, Parents and community people trying to help. If you were a parent or a youngster, you were crying. If you were an adult trying to help, your face showed the horror of the day.

After spending several minutes at that location, I broke down crying myself. Scared, I ran home. The memories of that day remain a big part of my life & who I am. Although I didn't lose any close friends that day, a girl who lived on my corner did die. I can't remember her name.

Through the power of the internet, I am again starting to rekindel friendships from the past, especially due to "Classmates.com". Anyone wishing to e-mail me, my address is upsnowmo@aol.com


Posted by: Pat (Paolella) LaMontagna On: 2/8/2003 ID: 50
Enrolled on 12/1/58? Present on 12/1/58? Injured? Age Grade Classroom Teacher
Yes Yes No 11 6 207 Sr. Geraldita
My name is Pat LaMontagna formerly Paolella. I lived across the street from OLA at 910 N. Avers. I was in the "cheesebox" a room that had 40 kids a mixture of 5th and 6th graders and two windows and one door. The back door to the room was always locked and called the "dummy door"

The door was our way out. Thankfully, all 40 kids made it out. The janitor, Mr. Raymond and Father Charles Hund finally opened the door and we all were able to get out via the fire escape.

You never forget the smell, the sounds, the tears, the tragedy and all the friends. My class was the first graduating class from the new school. We all went through hell and made it back. We were like displaced kids. Before the new school was built, the school was separated into three schools and a lot of us lost contact with each other. But we made it. With no therapy, just our families and friends.

After High School, I took a job downtown and used to ride the "L" with my friend Michelle McBride. After so many years, she still had many more surgeries to go but I used to admire her and everyone else who had visible scars. We were just used to it seeing our friends scarred. But I learned at a very early age just how cruel people could be. More so adults. A woman got on the "L" one morning and kept staring at Michelle. She then approaced her and told her she should be more careful about playing with fire. I wanted to smack the lady, but Michelle stopped me and started to make a joke of it. It always bothered me when someone made a nasty comment. I'm sure it bothered Michelle but she never let on.

My parents always said to me that sometimes you can't answer the "Why did this happen to us?" question right away. But somewhere in your life you'll find the answer. Did our tragedy save other kids throughout the country because other old schools were unsafe and changes were made? I don't know. I guess I'm still looking for the answer.

You always know the smell of a fire. I have the utmost respect for any person who decides to become a firefighter. I have dealt with them so very closely for the last twenty five years and marvel at the job they do. I became a police officer and just retired last November. I've been at fires and thank God never had to go into a burning building to rescue anyone. I'm sure that if I had to go in, I probably wouldn't hesitate, but for days and weeks afterward, I'd have flash backs to Dec. 1st. It never leaves you. I've had to destroy many uniforms because of the smell.

Everyone was changed by the fire. Individuals, families, the neighborhood but we all have that same attitude. As was stated at the end of the program, "Angels Too Soon", all you have to do is see someone from the old neighborhood - no one has to say anything. You know !!

A fellow retired police officer, called me after the program to make sure I was okay and didn't watch it by myself. I was so moved by the phone call. It's the same for the OLA family. We will always share the same bond no matter where life takes us.

Pat (Paolella) LaMontagna

email: patalope@AOL.com

'


Posted by: Royal Air On: 2/7/2003 ID: 49
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Momence, Illinois

I have been involved in Drum & Bugle Corps since 1964. My interest in the OLA fire stems from the fact that three of the students who parished in the fire were members of the Chicago Royal-Airs Drum & Bugle Corps. Over the years, the Corps never forgot Roger Alan Ramlow, Frances Guzaldo and Valerie Ann Thoma, the three members who lost their young lives in the fire. The Chicago Royal-Airs went on to win three National Championships but due to financial difficulties, the Corps disbanded in 1968. In 2002 the Royal-Airs reunited and performed several times over the summer of 2002 (average age - 55!). The first official act that the Royal-Airs performed was to gather at Queen of Heaven Cemetery on December 1, 2001 to pay tribute to our three fallen members.

FROM THE CHICAGO SUN-TIMES DECEMBER 2, 2002

Corps salutes 3 who died in '58 school fire

December 2, 2002

BY MAUREEN O'DONNELL STAFF REPORTER

The lives of many Chicago kids didn't extend beyond their alleys and L cars until the founding of the Royal Airs Drum & Bugle Corps in Humboldt Park 44 years ago.

Sie Lurye started the corps, and Rich Tarsitano taught the children music. They began competing throughout the country, and for the first time, those city kids saw cornfields and farms.

On Sunday, the Royal Airs gathered at Queen of Heaven Cemetery to salute the corps members who never grew up. Color guard captain Frances Guzaldo, bugler Roger Ramlow and flag-bearer Valerie Thoma died in the heart-crushing fire at Our Lady of the Angels School on Dec. 1, 1958, which killed 92 children and three nuns and changed school fire regulations nationwide.

"I was standing out in the front of the school the day of the fire, waiting for Frances to come out,'' said Jackie Lurye Borelli, 58, whose father founded the corps. "Her and I were going Christmas shopping.''

But the inferno began.

"She came out and went back in to get her cousin,'' Borelli said, adding that Frances never made it out. "They found them both together.''

About a third of the kids in Serge Uccetta's seventh-grade classroom perished.

"The door started rattling like there was wind in the hallway,'' Uccetta recalled. "Our nun said to open the door, and smoke was pouring in.'' The door was slammed shut, but "within just seconds, people could see flames licking over the doors.''

"My personal hero would be the school janitor, Mr. Raymond,'' said Uccetta, now 56. James Raymond had placed a ladder up to the second-floor window of Uccetta's classroom. "I remember having to hang down from the windowsill to reach the ladder. There were kids behind me in pain, pushing to get out. It was awful. I got out and was not injured.

"For years, I got the adrenaline rush when I smelled smoke,'' he said. "I ended up being pallbearer for four or five kids that died.''

The corps survived the fire, even though many of its members attended or were former students of Our Lady of the Angels, which was in the 3800 block of West Iowa until it shut down in 1999. Tarsitano "held together the band and consoled them during a tough time and told them they were safe,'' said his granddaughter Christie Tarsitano, 25, of Elmhurst.

Their rehearsal hall was the Illinois National Guard Northwest Armory, where many of the fire victims had laid in state. In 1965--eight years after their founding--they won every major title in the country for a drum corps.

"We went from 25 kids who never touched a bugle to three-time national champions,'' Uccetta said.

Financial troubles broke up the Royal Airs in 1968, but members gathered last year to perform at Lurye's induction into the Drum Corps Hall of Fame in Madison, Wis. They reunited, 227 members in the United States and Canada. They're performing again, and "we've knocked the socks off people,'' said corps director Borelli.

The corps played "Taps'' Sunday at the shrine to Our Lady of the Angels at Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Hillside, where many victims are buried, and repeated the tune at the grave of Tarsitano, their original music instructor.

Patricia Neri was only 1 when her sister Beverly Ann died in the fire.

"We haven't forgotten her,'' said Neri, who visited the cemetery with her sister Pam Pantaleo. "She was a part of our lives, and we bring our children here now.''

The corps' average age is now 55. Many are gray-haired. Some have waistlines that strain against their blue jackets. Yet their voices gained power at the cemetery as they spontaneously began to sing their old theme:

"On the field we march so proudly,

With our heads held high,

Royal Airs we are beside you;

And for you we vie.''


Posted by: Marianne On: 2/7/2003 ID: 48
Enrolled on 12/1/58? Present on 12/1/58? Injured? Age Grade Classroom Teacher
Yes No No 6 1 Mary Hall Sister Re Me
I was in first grade down the block on Hamlin in "Mary Hall" the buildings that were used for kindergarden & first grade. I remember

the nuns leading us out of the building and into the yard to the south of the school, they told us not to turn around but of course everyone looked up and saw huge clouds of smoke. I don't remember how I got home

but do remember sitting in front of the radio with my sister listening to what had happened. My Dad left work and went to help the parents look for their children. I remember being bussed to John Hay and Help of Christians. These memories are etched in my brain as if they were yesterday. Reading To Sleep with the Angels and watching these programs has answered many questions I grew up wondering about. I wish I knew WHY our parents would not talk about what had happened, to comfort us and help us understand.I am very thankful that things have changed through the years and now parents will talk to their children and comfort them. Maybe my generation has become more open with our children because of what we missed.

When I came to this web site today I found a message that my daughter

wrote. I thank God everyday for the wonderful relationship I have with my children. All parents should learn from the past and have an open

relationship with their children.

Through the years I have met several people who have had relatives who were students at OLA. I pary that the "Angels" are watching over all of us, and that the survivers have found peace.


Posted by: John Paolella On: 2/7/2003 ID: 47
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before 910 N. Avers Ave.
My name is John Paolella. I am a proud graduate of OLA, the class of 1956. My family lived directly accross from the school. Our home was used by the media on that horrible day in an attempt to organize and trasmit the news. My mother, Rose Paolella, was instrumental in assisting fire victims as they lay on our front lawn waiting for help. She covered them with blankets from our home and reassured them. She also took the kindergarteners into our basement to await their parents as they frantically searched for children. My sister Patricia, cousins JoAnn and John Pellettiere, and Kenneth Ferra were OLA students at the time of the fire. They all miraculously escaped. Our family was fortunate, unlike numerous others whose children died that day or sustained physical injuries that have lasted over time. The emotional trauma continues for all who were involved in the OLA experience. This event was a tragedy not only for those who attended the school and the parish, but also for our entire neighborhood. It forever changed our lives! My e-mail address is: DrJMP1@sbcglobal.net


Posted by: daughter of OLA member On: 2/7/2003 ID: 46
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No After n/a
My mother was at OLA on December 1, 1958 although she was among the younger students in the building that was spared from the terrible fire. Growing up, she often told stories of kids she knew and how my grandfather was one of the neighborhood men who went to help that day. We always drove by Holy Innocence at Queen of Heaven to pay our respects. My grandmother also remembered that day often, always telling the same story of a boy who escaped the building but went back in to get his jacket. Each time she spoke of it, that memory seemed to pull at her heart. I've read "To sleep with the Angels" and saw the recent special on Channell 11. What strikes me most is the fact that the students were not allowed to talk about what happenned. I realize that things were different back then, but what pain they must have felt and still must feel today. I just hope and pray the survivors and families have found some sense of peace.