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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: Sue Smith On: 1/31/2007 ID: 308
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Oak Lawn, IL
I was in the 4th grade in Cook School, Oak Lawn. I was a patrol girl, and remember getting out of class just a bit early to go be at my post. I remember the day after the fire. Everyone was talking about the horror of it. When the paper came out with all those pictures on the front page, our family stared, prayed, and cried for the kids and the families involved. So many lives have been saved because of the lessons learned from this fire. The book by Mr. Cowan and Mr. Kuenster was so well written and revived all the memories of that time in my life. Thinking now, how carefree I would be leaving my classroom, running down the open staircase from the second floor. Realizing now, how very dangerous all those schools were with the highly varnished woodwork...and now, thinking what if WE had had the fire...what would have happened. My father was the custodian at our elementary school. Oh how strange is life!! I view the kids that perished in the OLA fire, real heroes..through them we all learned valuable lessons, lives were changed, laws were changed, the world of elementary schools is better because of the high price THEY paid. Thank you for a job well done,Mr. Cowan and Mr. Kuenster, though I am sure it was so horribly difficult to do. It is an important work, glad it is recorded.
It is my hope that we can all come together to extend our sympathies to the families of those who died, to encourage and support the survivors at the 50th anniversary of this tragedy.


Posted by: Michelle Beard On: 1/27/2007 ID: 307
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No After n/a
I don't have any personal experiences related to the fire as I was born 17 years later. However, my mother (who is the second oldest of 7)and her siblings were all school age children at the time of the fire as well as a few of my previous co-workers. About a year and a half ago I was watching a documentary on OLA and the tragedy of Dec, 1st 1958. I was quite intrigued as I couldn't beleive being 30 years old by this time that I had not heard of this unfortunate event. I immediately called my mother to ask if she remembered the story being on the news and her reply was, "Oh my God, yes! How could anyone forget!? It was so sad." I told her I had never heard of the school or what happened and she basically told me everything I had just heard on the documentary. Even though she nor anyone in her family had lost any friends due to the fire she still spoke of it as if I had just reminded her of a personal tragedy she had hidden away from her child hood. The same reaction came from the ladies I work with when I brought it up at lunch the next day. They couldn't believe I had never heard ANYTHING about it. Honestly, neither can I which brings me to the whole point of why I'm writing this today. As I read the recap of the events that took place that fateful day, it occured to me that next December 1st (2008) it will be the 50th anniversary of that tragic day. If anyone knows of any benefits being given or contributions being taken or anything taking place in which we can give to the remaining family members or students that this fire effeted or even a contribution to a fund be sure it never happens again please let me know. I would like to help out. I can be reached at mrsbeardjr@hotmail.com. Thank you, and blessings to those who read this that were effected by this tragedy.


Posted by: John Sullivan On: 1/27/2007 ID: 306
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before 3830 W. Adams
I lived very close to OLA and always felt that I must have known some of the children from cub scouts or day camp at garfield park. I thought that GOD must be very angry to let such a horrible tragedy happen to a bunch of innocent children, especially so close to Christmas.
If you remember the picture on one of the papers of a big fireman carrying out a little child, years later I met his son and the firemans
name was Woodall and he had terrible nightmares until he passed away.
God Bless


Posted by: angelica On: 1/24/2007 ID: 305
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No After n/a
I remember lots of stories about fires but never have I heard such a sad story like this it hurts me insid knowing that that accident could have been avoided some how all thoose kids lives could have been saved.But the kids and the teachers should have had get the kids out before the fire got bigger.


Posted by: mary vandeleur On: 1/18/2007 ID: 304
Enrolled on 12/1/58? Present on 12/1/58? Injured? Age Grade Classroom Teacher
Yes Yes No 7 1
We lived kitty corner from the school. I remember the neighborhood as one of fun and friendly people. I remember the candy store, close enough so I could walk to it. I remember buying candy lipsticks. I remember singing in the alley/walkway between our apartment and the next and the great echo you could make. I remember trying to climb the wall of our building by gripping the bricks that stuck out.

I remember the wonderful dollhouse in the kindergarten calssroom. And standing in line to go in.

I remember my friends Albert and Maria Peruzzo, and Mary and Denny and Jerry Brock, and I wonder what happened to them and where they are today.

I remember the sound of the desk lids closing and the ssmell of the halls.

I remember that my parents always had lots of chuch meetings at our place, for CFM and other groups.

I remember somehow being in our apartment looking out at the fire and not even knowing how I got home. And I remember the people coming in to wait for word about their kids.

I remember a woman clasping my face and saying over and over 'do you know how lucky you are' and crying. Everyone cried.

I remember so much and yet so little. And I still cry.


Posted by: Astrid St. Claire On: 12/29/2006 ID: 303
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before 1159 N. Lockwood Ave. Chicago
I was in first grade in 1958. My teacher was Sr. Mary Bernadita, BVM. I attended Our Lady Help Of Christians School. I remember hearing the fire trucks towards the end of the day. Strangely though, I had absolutely no idea what was going on. I just thought something was on fire and it didn't concern me as I walked home.

It wasn't until my Mother got home that the T.V. was turned on, around 6:00pm for the news.Then, I saw the full horror of what really was happening. For some reason, I was numb. I found it hard to comprehend what I was watching.Perhaps it was shock,and the full import of the news was just too much for me. I think I actually blocked it out.My parents didn't talk of the fire in front of us,news papers were whisked away and I don't recall seeing them at all. What has remained with me was the sound of the fire truck's sirens that day. It seemed to go on for hours.

The next day at school, our teachers spoke in hushed voices among themselves. We were asked to pray for the families and the children at OLA. Even the other classmates were quiet on the subject. Nothing was said.Masses were said and we attended them, but still the magnitutde of the event didn't register with me. I do remember lookig out the classroom window to see if there was a great distance to go if an escape was needed in case of a fire.Soon after this, it wasn't long after the fire, a strange thing happened to me. I was standing in class for morning prayers. We were saying the Hail Mary. As I prayed, my vision became to focus on a bright light. This light grew to be as big as the sun. In the light was the Holy Mother. She was calling for me to come to her. I was about to go to her,when Sr.Mary Bernadita began to frantically scream my name. She was ordering me to sit down. I eventually responded to her and the light faded. She immediately rushed me to Mother Superior's office. They talked in hushed voices for a few moments. I was told to sit down in the waiting room. Mother Superior watched me for about an hour before I was sent back to my class. No one called my parents about this.Frankly, I can't imagine what drew Sister's attention to me. I can only guess that my face changed in some way that alarmed her.She never talked to me about it.Why did Our Holy Mother come to me that day? I guess I'll never really know. But I have never forgotten it, nor have I spoken of it until now.

The following summer, perhaps it was a little longer, all the wooden staircases and hallways were ripped out and steel staircases were put in. I loved the smell of the old wood and was sorry to see it go. Steel fire doors were also added at this time. Soon after the fire , I heard the rumors of the janitor somehow being responsible for the fire. I found that hard to believe as well, even at that time.

In the following months, students from OLA were sent to my scool. They were put in the basement where classrooms were set up for them. They were allowed to leave earlier than the rest of us, I recall. Again, not even curiosity about their presence registered with me. Looking back, I find my reaction very strange. But again, no one talked about it. It was like you already knew that the subject was forbidden to be mentioned.

It wasn't until high school that I began to give it any thought. By then, all reminders of the tragedy where wiped away. I wasn't very good at research at that time either. Years later, when I went to the Museum,and I saw the Life Magazine cover there did it finally hit me. The grief rolled over me like a tidal wave.I heard the fire truck sirens again in my head. My husband couldn't understand why I was so upset.The subject was alien to him. It was at that time I really needed to know what happened. Alas, it would be many more years to pass before I saw something on Channel 11 about the OLA fire. That program made me hunt down David Cowan's book, To Sleep With Angels. It was there that all my questions were answered. The deep sadness of that day has never left me.In my subconscious the news report of Dec.1, 1958, remains elusive to me even now. I'd like to see it once again to see why I shut it out.Something happened to me that day, I just don't know what.For reasons I can't explain, I feel a close connection with the tragedy. Though why, I can't say.

I'm 55 years old now, and the OLA fire is still a topic few discuss.It therefore was of great interest to recently find this site. I'm still looking for some answers. The webmaster and all of those who have contributed to this website are to be commended on a extraodinary fine documentation of this tragedy. I found myself enraged when I read that the Memorial at the school was desicrated. Thank God, it was rescued and given a home at Holy Family Church.

In 1993, I was in great pain. I went to my Chiropractor in Forest Park. One day, he had just gotten back from a seminar. Out of the blue, he mentions a fellow chiropractor who survived the OLA school fire and had his practice in Arlington Heights. He said something very mean about the man who was more successful than he was. I was astounded!Apparently, the Doctor in question, still had visible scars from the fire. I absolutely blew up at my Doctor. My doctor's family moved away from OLA a year before the fire occured.I told my doctor that this man has gone through a life altering tragedy. He may never be the same again. It was wrong of my doctor to feel jealous of his success and that he should be ashamed of himself. God found a way for this man to go on and be a success, one should be overjoyed for him. My doctor, made some form of an apology and I went home. I didn't stay with him after that.

I find it curious, that even though I have no direct connection to the fire, it is never far from my thoughts.Perhaps it affected me more than I realize. I have a friend of 22 years now, she is 10 years younger than myself. Here too, she has family who were in the fire and blessedly escaped. Her family attends the anniversary masses. But, even almost 50 years later, the OLA fire is seldom spoken of. For them, it might as well have happened yesterday. As I have gone through this life, the OLA school fire re-emerges at the most unlikely times, from the most unlikely sources. I wonder if anyone else has had a similar experience? I made sure my chilren know of the sad event, I make sure they know to look for fire exits everywhere they go.I insisted that my son pack a flashlight in his bag when he went to college, because the layout of the school was confusing, and in the panic of a fire you'd loose your way.I told him to count the doors to the nearest exit. He, of course thinks I'm being silly about all the precautions. For me however, this is of monumental importance.It has a purpose of course, I just can't tell you what.

My heart and thoughts have been with all those who survived and the families of those who didn't. Even though I don't know any of you personally, you are always with me. God Bless you.


Posted by: Janice Sansone=Bahde On: 12/11/2006 ID: 302
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Chicago
I was only 5 years old but I have very vivid memories of my mother crying and sobbing at the kitchen table reading the newspaper about the fire. I asked why she was crying and she said that we used to live in that neighborhood and if we had not moved my older brother, my sister and I would have been going to that school and would have been in the fire. My brother would have been in 4th grade and she just kept crying because one of the boys,(Joseph Modica), that died was one of my brother's friends. He got out safely and then went back in for his sister and did not make it out again. Joseph was their only son and he died.
When I started first grade at All Saints Parish I remember feeling so frightened that the school would start on fire. I used to think how I would escape if there was a fire. Then when I was ten years old I was hospitalized for 3 weeks at St Anthony Hosp. I was very frightened that the hospital would start on fire and I would be trapped. I remembered the images of kids jumping out of windows and the pictures in the papers and on the news and I was so affected by all of them. I can't imagine what it must have been like for those that survived the fire and when I think of all of those that died and those that survived I pray for all of you. God Bless you with peace and calm and may His love surround you always.


Posted by: OS On: 12/10/2006 ID: 301
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before
We moved to the City the following year, to the area immediately north of OLA. When we arrived I was 7, and enrolled in St. Priscilla, about 3 miles northwest of OLA on Addison Street. I remember my mother being adamant about not wanting us to go to school at OLA.
I remember several times seeing a boy a bit older than me from OLA with his mom, out in public, when our Mom would take us with her shopping to Five Points and perhaps the shops on Irving Park Road around Saint Pius Church. (There was a great 5 and dime there across from that Church.) Once I saw him at Marshall Fields downtown at Christmas.
He was memorable because he had to wear a large white gauze veil covering on the entire left side of his face. Probably he was scarred or (hopefully) healing. I recall staring at him on one occasion and my Mom roughly jerking me away when she caught me. I remember his looking directly at me. I felt so sorry for him, appearing in public that way. It was sad, but my Mom would never tell us what had happened to him other than the fact that he had survived the fire at Our Lady of the Angels. I had a vague sense of his being somehow tied to the word angels....as I was very young and we were just learning about them at St. Priscilla.
Periodically over the years, there was infrequently just the mention of Our Lady of the Angels, and though their eyes would widen, the adults would refuse to talk about it in front of us. We never went south to that area for any reason whatsoever. As though it was somehow still shadowed by the event.
We most certainly prayed for the souls of the children who passed away there while we attended St. Priscilla.
We are Irish American and I believe that given the times and our ethnicity, it was seen as bad luck to even discuss tragedy (like the famine which brought our people here). Thus we never heard about our ancestors or what happened to them prior to inculturation in America. I think alot of the families of kids at OLA were also from different European ethnic backgrounds which had similar traditions regarding tragedy and loss.
We had fire drills very frequently at St. Priscilla, as it was a very similar set up built approximately the same period. Everything was made of wood - structure, floors, doors, trim,cloak room, desks, windows - everything, - floors waxed constantly to a high (flammable)gloss
It seemed like in ther regimented way, the Sisters of St. Francis were constantly marching us around - from required Mass at Church in the morning, out to the playground at noon, back in from playground, and leaving the school at night. I still remember the song that the principal played on the intercom every night to get us marching out.
No doubt some if not all this attention to precision movement of the kids was in respone to the OLA tragedy.


Posted by: Arelis On: 12/7/2006 ID: 300
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No After n/a
I wasnt alive at the time of the fire, but I first knew about it 3 years ago.My stepfather and I where watching a show called Chicago stories on PBS.When I read the book I knew alot more of the fire.It was sad to hear to hear children and nuns dead.I usually pass by there sometimes, because I lived around that area.


Posted by: C. M. On: 12/3/2006 ID: 299
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before 715 S Pulaski
I was 18, traveling northbound on the bus to Madison and Crawford (Pulaski). I don't recall how we got the news on the bus, but several ladies started screaming and crying that their children were at that school. There was a lot of comotion on the bus,I had to get off and I often till this day wonder about those women and if their kids got out safely. My father did'nt want us to go near the scene of the fire, he told us that the neighborhood was in pain and that they did'nt need us there to gawk. A black cloud hung over them.

I myself attended Presentation Catholic School Springfield and Polk. We also had a school fire around 1951 or 52. Something should of been learned from our school fire. Every time I hear or think of OLA, I think back to our school fire.

Presentation had 2 school buildings. A "old" school(built 1909), and held grades K to 4, and a "new" school(built maybe in the 40's)with grades 5 to 8. The fire was in the new school. Like OLA it too started in the basement near the stairwell, the halls filled up quickly with smoke. We did'nt know there was a fire until we heard the fire engines coming, some of the kids near the windows were looking out to see if a house nearby had a fire. Then they yelled "the school's on fire", the nun did'nt believe them and walked over to the window to see for herself, at the same time all hell broke loose and some kids were going to jump from the 2 floor windows, glass was breaking, smoke was coming into the room. I was on the second floor on the east side of the school, 5th grade and our room was on the corner of the building, so we had windows to the east and on the north. The north windows led to an alley. When I looked out the window all I saw was the fire trucks, and people all over the streets, some were yelling "jump". I seen the first floor kids running from the school. I remember someone saying we had to jump and to go out the back windows, as I neared the windows a fireman appeared in our room and led us all to safety. To this day I don't know how we were able to get out, I know we had to crawl to a stairway and then run as fast as we could. No casualities. Just chaos afterward. There were no classrooms on the west side of the building, on the first floor was the gymnasium which had high ceilings to the second floor. It was the gym that burned. That whole side of the building was destroyed. We were lucky.

How did the fire start, believe it or not, it was suspected that a boy in our school started it.