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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: Gerry caddy579@aol.com On: 1/7/2003 ID: 29
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Chicago
I found this site yesterday, I was chatting on an internet forum about school in the 50s and remembered the fire and went looking for information on the internet.

I was 8 at the time of the fire, and lived in a very similiar working class neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, 111th and Kedzie, and attended St. Christina, a parish and school very similiar to OLA. I remember the horror of learning of the fire, of seeing the pictures, especially because the victims were roughly the same age as me and also because it was a Catholic school in Chicago.

St. Christina had a school at Central Park and 111th that looked shockingly similiar to OLA, I attended there 4th, 5th and 6th grades, 1959-1961. I think it has since been torn down.

I vividly remember the picture of the fireman on Life magazine, and the pictures of all of the white coffins. I also remember renewed fire drills and safety impovements at St. Christina's after the fire.

This site has really haunted me the past 2 days, the neighborhood is so similiar to 111th and Kedzie, and the pictures of the kids from OLA could very well be us at St. Christina at the same time. The parents look just like my folks and the residents of our neighborhood.

To all of the survivors-may God bless and keep you, and may your memories comfort you.


Posted by: Bob Denstedt Saint Louis, Missouri On: 1/2/2003 ID: 28
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before New Orleans, Louisiana
Ever since I was in my early teens, I had ongoing dreams about a very particular neighborhood with specific streets, stores, and buildings, and a large parochial school with adjoining church. I have had a particular child as my "tour guide," for lack of a better description, show me around to the different places she frequented daily, it seemed. I have never dreamed of the actual fire itself, but this child has allowed me access to her world in OLA parish and school prior to the tragedy. I have also been "introduced," again for lack of a better word, to one of the BVM sisters who taught in the school. I have come to know about her well through this child.

These dreams have been with me now for over thirty five years. I am a 47 year old male who is married with one child, and professionally employed with a international company. Although I was born and raised Roman Catholic, and attended Catholic schools exclusively, there is no apparent connection with my life and that of the world surrounding OLA in the late 1950's.

Approxiamately ten years ago, on a first visit to Chicago, I was dring into the downtown via I-55 and began to intuitively recognize landmarks related to the dreams. Up until tht time I had not connected the dreams to OLA. A close personal friend and native of Joliet that was with me and my family that day noticed my change in behavior, and sked if anything was wrong. I asked her if she would, in effect, be able to get me back to the highway if I turned off to look for something. Before she could say yes, I turned of and began driving in the direction of OLA church, BVM convent, etc. At that point, I realized that the deams I had been having had involved real places and were not just a figment of my imagination.

Since then I had continued to have these dreams, on and off, and because my life is so busy have never really had time or energy to investigate the meaning of all this. I just thought I would share my story with all of you. By the way, your web-site is excellent!


Posted by: Chris Turek On: 12/31/2002 ID: 27
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No After n/a
I'm only 27, but having been raised on the south side of chicago and also having attended a Catholic grade school (St. Nick's), I essentially grew up in the shadow of the OLA fire. We were constantly reminded of it when the importance of our own fire drills were stressed. I became completely fascinated by the fire and looked for all the details i could gather, which were unfortunately very few at the time. A friends uncle had worked the fire for the CFD but didn't have many details to offer -- perhaps because he chose not to, or maybe because he was one of the last resonding engines. I found my interest finally satisfied with the Cowan and Kuenster text coupled with also being able to hunt down a copy of the McBride book. This year on December 1st I attended the annual memorial mass and spent some time walking around and snapping a few photos.

The church is a little run down and is now an evangelical church, but on every December 1st it is still the site of a Catholic mass. There were about 25 people at the mass and the mood was very somber and prayerful. The readings were done by OLA graduates from the early sixties and the mid seventies, if memory serves me correctly. Candles, each one affixed with a name of victim, were lit during the mass and placed in the alcove in the upper left of the church as seen in the photo. After the mass people were invited to take a candle home if they wished. We waited for the relatives and fire victims to take whatever candles they wished, and then we took a few home for ourselves (I took Joseph Maffiola and a few others). While taking the candles we overheard some conversations and entered into a few through which we met some people that were students at the time and others that were too young to be in school, but had parents that remember the time well. One man commented that his father identified a boy because a neighbor was unable to find the strength to. It was a sad day, but a very comforting one as well. It was my first time visiting the site and I found it very interesting and worthwhile in trying to further put together the story in my head.

I’m endlessly fascinated and moved by the events of that day.


Posted by: kt On: 12/27/2002 ID: 26
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No After n/a
i dont know if this is the place to do this i just want to say that i may not have lost loved ones in a horrible situation like that but i have lost loved ones so i know some what how it feels. I want to say that i am deeply sorry for all the people who lost loved ones that day. And i feel bad for the survivors also because they have to live with the memory always!!! i wish i could do more but this is all i can i am so sorry for your loss.

i dont know if this will offer any comfort but for those who have lost loved ones from this tragedy maybe if you think of all the lives that were saved in the long run from what people learned about fire safety you will get a little less sadness from this tragedy!!

kt


Posted by: Rebecca Morrissey On: 12/23/2002 ID: 25
Enrolled on 12/1/58? Present on 12/1/58? Injured? Age Grade Classroom Teacher
Yes Yes No 9 4 basement Was not a nun
I remember that day as clear as it was yesterday. My friends and I were walking to school, and one of my best friends joan showed me her new watch she had gotten. That was the last time I had seen her alive. I also remember being a pall bearer at her funeral.

Another thing I remember is not being able to get a hold of my mother. She had heard about the fire, and was on her way down hoping I was alive. But, couldn't find me, as they were taking all the surviving children to other homes close by. They were also bringing in burned children to homes before transporting them to hospitals.

I still think of my friend Joan. When I made my confirmation years later, I took the name of Joan for my name. I miss her very much.


Posted by: C. Levy On: 12/16/2002 ID: 24
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before East Coast
I was a child on the East Coast in 1958.

My parents told me about "some horrific fire in a Catholic school in Chicago". They said one nun had bravely tried to shield children as she hurried them through smokey corridors.

Though we were Jewish, I had playmates that were Catholic. I took it to heart because I knew (potentially) that my friends could have been victims. (Just like when viewing film footage of young Holocaust victims, I always put myself in their shoes).

Horrific events, especially involving children, always affect me permanently. I pray those involved have healed, and that far stricter safety standards prevail.

Any child or adolescent who deliberately sets fires is SICK!! (Assuming OLA fire was arson).

Nowadays, any student with such a deranged mind would get immediate counseling. If necessary, they'd be committed to a mental hospital as a danger to themselves and others.

In 1958, it must have been different. Nuns were probably not trained to recognize mental illness in a pupil. And they obviously had far too many students in their classes anyway.

It is possible the Church was reluctant to pursue the matter, even if they and the police knew the likely suspect.

Finally, one cannot help but ponder:

If a single person DID start the OLA fire, and he is alive today, what is he doing?

Does he have a family? Work each day? Attend Mass?

Has he set other fires? (probably) Been caught? Engaged in other violent behavior?

Does his conscience bother him, or is he devoid of human feelings?

The arsonist's identity and related info would afford some "closure" -- if that is possible.

I would appreciate comments of others. Thank you.

C. Levy

levy2001us@yahoo.com


Posted by: The Anonymous One On: 12/14/2002 ID: 23
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before South side of Chicago
Even tho I was no where near the fire, nor did I have a direct connection to it, this is a day I can never forget.

It was two days before my 10th birthday. I was attending a Public school (Perkins Bass Elementary) that was of the same vintage as OLA, and of the same construction; brick exterior, wooden interior.

Adults didn't talk to thier kids about events like this back then; our main contact was the TV coverage. I can still see the horrible film on WGN-TV, and I still hear the awful, somber music bed they played with the film. It haunts me to this day.

The next day at school... every kid was quiet, subdued, and terrified. Most of us were literally in a state of shock, and many of us were afraid it would happen again, but this time at OUR school.

The only folks who seemed to realize the impact on us kids were our teachers. They did what our parents didn't; they tried to talk to us about what had happened. They lightened up on us a bit as far as discipline and studies were concerned. And, I STILL thank my teacher for TELLING us a minute or two in advance that there was about to be a fire drill; if she hadn't, she'd probably have had to cope with a classroom full of terrified, panic stricken little psychotics when that bell went off in the hall.

I can remember that I was afraid to fall asleep at night for several weeks after the fire. The only other time that happened to me was during the 1962 Cuban Missle Crisis.

I can only say to parent who read these lines...

I know that it's difficult to do during a public tragedy like the OLA fire, but PLEASE remember that even tho they may not show it, YOUR KIDS MAY BE MUCH MORE SERIOUSLY AFFECTED BY THE TRAGEDY THAN YOU REALIZE. THEY NEED YOU TO OPEN LINES OF COMMUNICATION AND TALK TO THEM ABOUT WHAT THEY'RE FEELING!!!


Posted by: Andy Lego On: 12/11/2002 ID: 22
Enrolled on 12/1/58? Present on 12/1/58? Injured? Age Grade Classroom Teacher
Yes Yes No 12 7 208 Sister Mary St. Canice
Every year about this time I search the web for anything about the OLA fire and several weeks ago I found this website.

I haven't suffered the personal loss that so many have nor was my family destroyed. My father kept me isolated from what happened after the fire but I still carry it. Here are some ramblings I'll call my story.

I was in Room 208 and I think the first desk in the window row or the one right next to that. Philip Tampone sat next to me, but I was closer to window. I recall Phil wore glasses with chrome or some sort of reflective arms. Phil didn't make it. My mom took me to his wake at the Lupo funeral home on Chicago Ave.

The classroom doors were closed and the doors were rattling. Sister thought the 8th graders were lined up in the hall and that they were leaning against the door. Sister told someone to go the door and tell the 8th graders to move away. Whoever tried to open the door couldn't. It seems to me that either Sister told someone else to try or tried herself to open the door. That's about the time the smoke started oozing in quickly around the doors. I think Sister told the taller boys to open the windows as the smoke began to fill the room then told us to sit and pray. A boy whose name I remember as Mike (found out later it was Mike Nagle .. he passed away about 8 years ago) said something like "I'm getting out of here." Somehow, I leaned over a window ledge (I was very short then) and saw flames shooting from the stairwell landing window. I've always been terrified of heights but I crawled out onto (I heard the sound of glass breaking behind me) and over the window ledge and wound up hanging there for what seems like a very long time but was probably a few seconds. I let go but didn't fall very far as I landed first on the roof of the outside entrance to the basement chapel and then rolled off that to the ground. Jimmy Krajewski hit the ground about the same time I did. I learned later that both his legs or ankles were broken. I sprained my left ankle..that was it. When I was still a boy, I often wondered why I was so lucky because of the hole in the roof over where my desk was.

The first thing I did after getting on the ground was run into the grocery store across the alley and call my parents. I remember the first ladders being brought up to the building as I was running to the store. Mom told me years later that my dad ran all the way to the school. We lived in the 1200 block of Pulaski then and that's easily a mile or a bit more from the school. I know I ran around looking for my brother who was in 2nd grade on the first floor on the Iowa St. side of the school. I eventually found him or he found me. Somehow, we wound up in someone's house toward the north end of Avers. I don't remember much else after that. Dad took us home when he found us and wouldn't let us go near the school until after Christmas. I went there anyway.

After the fire there were the bus rides to Help of Christians for half day sessions and I was in the group sent to finish out the year at Orr school on Keeler (or was it John Hay school on Laramie Ave?). My parents bought a house out of the parish in the 1400 block of north Kildare the following April. OLA wouldn't let me finish 8th grade the next year because of that so I attended Sts. Cyril and Methodius school at Kildare and Walton.

I attended OLA from 2nd through 7th grades and classes in the north wing of the school just twice. The first time was 5th grade and Room 210 with Sister Mary Albia (I'll never forget her). The second was 7th grade and Room 208. My best friend back then was Gary Wassinger. Gary's sister was in Room 210 at the time of the fire and I know she was burned some but got out safely down a ladder. The fire has stayed with her these many years and with Gary. He was in the south wing in Sister Andrienne's room.

As the years have passed the fire has come back to me in a few unique ways. Our family doctor was a Dr. Olechowski, Janet Olechowski's uncle. During the late '70's and early '80's I was living and working in the Dallas area and found Michelle McBride's book quite by accident in an obscure bookstore. Sometime in the spring of '96 I stopped at the Barnes and Noble bookstore across Rte. 83 from Oakbrook Centre for no reason I can remember and found Cowen & Kuenster promoting their book. I had no idea the book had been published. I bought the book that day with their autograph and finished reading it that evening. I spoke with them after their presentation and they told me about a group known as 'Friends of OLA' that was driven by Joseph Maffiola's younger sister, Linda. She was three at the time of the fire but founded and drove the group because her childhood and family were destroyed by the fire. I recall going with the group to the mass grave in Hillside in December of that year for a memorial service. I lost track of them as I was travelling quite a bit then. Sometime in the late 90's I came across a website that was offering a music cd dedicated to the fire victims. The proceeds went to some fireman's fund.

I remember the tragedy but I also remember the happier times of a young boy in a city neighborhood in the '50's. Those also stay with me. There were the years as a patrol boy at the Division and Hamlin intersection and the years as an altar boy. In third grade, Sister Andrienne was to have been the teacher but I remember her introducing Miss Tristano as our teacher. That must have been her first year at OLA. All I can remember of her is her legs .. and I was in 3rd grade ... ooboy

I can recall Sister Andrienne picking me and one or two others out of class one day and dragging us upstairs to her class and making us read aloud from the big blue American history book. I think it was to show her class that 3rd graders could read better than her class was.

We lived at 1231 N. Pulaski back then and directly across the street from the Crystal Bakery.

Andy Lego - Hoffman Estates, IL
ajlego@yahoo.com


Posted by: Patti On: 12/10/2002 ID: 21
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before
This story has been deleted.


Posted by: Anna On: 12/9/2002 ID: 20
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No After n/a
I first learned of the OLA fire on a NIGHTLINE or 20/20 documentary. I didn't get a chance to see the whole thing and so I didn't get all the info that I wanted unfortunately I'd never heard of the OLA fire. I just recently saw something on cable that said in loving memory of those who perished during the fire at Our Lady of the Angels. I immediately went on the internet and found this site along with four others that gave info on all the things that happened during that time. It was such a sad time. This was a time that I can't even imagine seeing that I have a 3 year old son and the articles that I've read stated that the smaller children were the ones mostly left behind. I don't know if the actual building is still standing or where exactly it was but I do want to send out my condolences to the families of the victims and to say that you're all in our prayers.