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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: Marge Marzullo Wilson On: 12/1/2008 ID: 423
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
How can it be fifty years ago today? And the same day of the week. I didn't know this site existed until a few years ago and, it many ways, it was a comfort so many years past due. That day, Sister Mary Eunice, who JoAnn Pelletier (sp?)and I helped out before school, had asked us if we could come down before the end of school to help pass out birthday treats for one of her first graders. Sister Canice gave us permission and we left Room 208 early. I remember waving good-bye to my dear friend Patty Dryzmala who sat in the last seat of a row near the back door where we exited. We walked down the infamous stairway but there was nothing amiss. During the maybe 20-25 minutes we were with the first graders, I was asked to run to the convent which I did. Again, I saw or heard nothing unusual. Then the fire alarm. Thinking it just a drill, we got all the first graders dressed and led them out the doors on Avers. There I saw what will forever be apart of my life. I looked up at those windows and saw one nun pushing children out and saw lifeless uniformed bodies on the ground. We herded the children up Avers nearer Augusta avenue and waited. Somehow I was able to call home. My younger sister had died just a few years earlier and I wanted my mom to know I was okay. Then some of my classmates came down the street, no shoes and smelling of smoke but alive. That night, our phone rang constantly as some of my friends mothers were hoping their daughters were at our home. And I watched Frank Reynolds on TV as the names of my friends rolled by on the screen.
Until an OLA reunion many years ago, we never ever talked about what had shattered our childhoods. And for so long I prayed that God would show me why I was saved, what unbelievable thing was I meant to accomplish with my life. Not surpisingly, no clear answer came and the guilt many of us seemed to have felt remained for many years. I was also in NYC on 9/11,at the World Trade Center on 9/9 and 9/10, but nothing will compare to what happened 50 yrs. ago today.


Posted by: Betty Grenda On: 12/1/2008 ID: 422
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before South Milwaukee, Wisconsin
On December 1, l958 I was 20 years old and working in the medical records department at St. Francis Hospital in Milwaukee, WI. Because it was Marlene's 22 birthday that day, Sister Laurentine, our supervisor, permitted all 4 of us young ladies to go down on break together. When we returned to the office the radio which was often softly playing in the background had a newscast on about a fire raging in a school in Chicago. To this day I have never ever failed to recall this horrible tragedy not only on each December 1st but also at other times throughout the years. Now I live in Mt. Prospect, IL and belong to St. Emily's parish. The school in our parish was built very shortly after this tragic fire. It is one story tall and each classroom has its own exit door to the outside. May God bless all those people: children, parents, relatives, friends, teachers, firemen and rescuers whose lives have been so tragically impacted by this day in history.


Posted by: Kathy On: 12/1/2008 ID: 421
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Suburban Milwaukee, Wisconsin
I'm stunned to learn that it has been 50 years since the terrible fire at Our Lady of the Angels. It was the first non-local news event that made an impression on me.

I was 7 1/2 years old and in third grade in a small town outside Milwaukee. I will never forget the picture that ran on the front page of the Milwaukee Journal, showing smoke streaming from the school building, or the stories of children jumping from windows to escape, some of them trailing fire as they fell.

I don't honestly remember if the fire was talked about at my school (part of which was an old building with wooden floors and stairways, like OLA). But it affected me very strongly on a personal level, young though I was. It was the first time I had realized that children my age could die.

It occurs to me now that my mother must have been newly pregnant with my youngest brothers at the time. She must surely have had one of those "what kind of a world am I bringing a child into?" moments. I wish I could ask her about it, but she died 2 years ago at 87.

I have found reading the personal contributions on this Web site very touching, especially the postings by relatives, friends, and neighbors of the children who died. When nieces and nephews, not born yet in 1958, write to say "I never knew my aunt/uncle but have heard the story all my life" or "My grandmother kept a picture of ___ close to her until the day she died" -- it conveys the "ripple effect" forward through the generations. When a hole is torn in the fabric of a family, the mark carries through all subsequent weaving.

It is obvious that there is much healing yet to do. Thank you for providing this forum for survivors to express themselves and to find each other. One never "gets over" such a tragedy, but perhaps there is a crumb of comfort, after all these years, in the connections made here, and in knowing that so many others remember, too, the day that their loved ones died.


Posted by: Marc Seeger On: 12/1/2008 ID: 420
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Chicago
I went to visit and pray at the school site today. As I was nearing a fire truck and ambulance pulled out in front of me. They quickly were lost in the flow of traffic. I turned onto Avers from Grand and parked the car. When I got out and started walking a couple of blocks south, I saw several firetrucks and a crowd gathering. I thought that it was a memorial service, but no, it was a fire on the 800 block of Avers, right around the corner from the school. When I got there, there were
several firetrucks and a couple of ambulances. No one was hurt, but an apartment had been gutted by fire. It was on the second story, and as I peered through the iron gate, I saw a ladder leaning against the wall that did not quite reach to the second story of the building. This was today on 12/01/08! The similarities were uncanny.

I was then going to head to the school. Just then I heard the fire captain say that all the firemen could leave. (There were around 20-25; I had never seen so many firemen before.) He told a couple of the firemen that he was heading over to the school. He went with two other firemen, and I followed. The captain went up to the memorial to pray. As he was leaving I gave him a copy of my testimonial, #212 on this
website. Then I spent time praying by name for all of the relatives and friends of the victims name by name.

To those of you still suffering, know that Jesus is as alive today as he was 50 years ago, that He cares about you, and that He wants to carry your sorrows and burdens. He said, "Come to Me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." God also spoke prophetically of the Messiah in Isaiah 53 when he said, "Surely, our griefs He himself bore, and our sorrows He carried." Know that God cares for you. He did not cause the fire or the deaths. He longs to meet your every need. God bless you in your search for His love, comfort, grace, and peace.

Marc Seeger

Feel free to email me at:mseeger@comcast.net


Posted by: Sandy Schuster On: 12/1/2008 ID: 419
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before About 50 miles north of Green Bay, Wisconsin.
I was a freshman in a very small town high school, but lived about 10 miles out of town on a small farm. Having lived in Chicago and it's suburbs prior to 1953 with many relatives still living in and around Chicago, I felt very connected to that city. Fifty years ago today, I came home from school by bus to find my mother listening to the radio and crying her heart out. As she was telling me what was happening and I, too, listened to the radio my tears joined hers. I cried myself to sleep that night and for many nights after. The thought of all those children dying in a fire was overwhelming to me. A week or so later my grandmother (who lived in Chicago and actually went to the funeral) sent us some Chicago newspapers with pictures. There was one picture in particular that I can see in my mind's eye today as clearly as I saw it then. It was of a beautiful young mother watching the school on fire. Until I die, I will never forget the total helplessness and sadness in her eyes as the flames reflected off her face. Every December first for 50 years, I've remembered those "angels" and their loved ones. I never let my children go to any school that I thought might be a firetrap. That fire has affected my life to this day. It's still my saddest memory from my childhood.


Posted by: Greg A. Sniegoski On: 12/1/2008 ID: 418
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No After n/a
I was not born quite yet, but my Father, was a suburban fire-fighter volunteer at this time. I remember years later, this tragedy was still very much spoken about, and it was within the last 10 years, that I followed stories, websites, and TV reports about OLA.

My own parents were around 29-30 years old at the time, and have since passed away. I've often visited the OLA website, to look at the names of those that perished, or have survived, and read as much as I can...to gain knowledge of that terrible day.

Schools, institutions, as well as many buildings, both public and private, have had to comply with many revised building-codes, and fire-safety codes. I couldn't imagine what it must have been like, with no sprinklers, or fire suppression systems in that school at all, in that era.

My heart, my thoughts, and my prayers go out to the many families that were impacted by this terrible fire.


Posted by: a fan of Michele McBride's book On: 12/1/2008 ID: 417
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before suburbs of Chicago
Michele's book brought alive for me an event that reached all the way to the northwest suburbs where my family relocated to from inner city Chicago's west side in 1958.

I shared her book with many friends. As with other tragic 1st hand accounts, while reading her book, I felt the horror of watching her friend disintegrate into flames.

Her recollection of the psychological phenomenon of shock to survivors, victims and their families and what was earlier that day a solid faith bound community now wracked will live in my heart.

Survivors she intoned are considered courageous. Michele taught me she was not a hero by volition.

The brands of her father's cuff links, the design of small clocks forever marked her wrists. The picture of her with a dog and all her challenges fresh in my memory from her 1979 publication.

I was sorry to learn of her passing in 2001 though glad she did not live to be further traumatized by events of 9/11. I'm glad to find this website to say to her, all who find this site and all who were directly involved, we who watched you, grieve deeply.


Posted by: Emily On: 12/1/2008 ID: 416
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No After n/a
Although I was not alive at the time of this terrible tragedy, I have heard about it from my parents, who were. I wll always remember the Our Lady of the Angels fire and it's 95 victims. I know they are in heaven, because if anyone makes it to Heaven it is children and the wonderful Sisters. May God bless the family and friends of those who died and give them peace and comfort on this 50th anniversary. Know that your precious loved ones will never be forgotten. God bless you all.


Posted by: Gina La Joie-Nichols On: 11/30/2008 ID: 415
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No After n/a
My parents have always told me the story of the tragic fire. I have seen it documented on channel 11 over the years my parents were 10 and 9 at the time and lived near by. I am only 35 years old with two kids of my own i can't even imagine the heartach that went on that day. my thoughts and prayers go out to the familes that have to deal with the pain that happened so long ago but will never be forgotten.


Posted by: maw On: 11/30/2008 ID: 414
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Oak Park, IL
I was a 7th grade student at Ascension School in Oak Park. I still vividly remember the night of December 1, 1958. We all huddled around our TV (black and white!) listening to the horror of the day. Because I attended a Catholic school, I felt an affinity to the students who died in the fire. We were all Catholic school students, after all! We were a community, and we felt the loss as if it were one of us. All of my peers could relate to the grim news. To this day, at age 62, I can remember that night as if it were yesterday. I pray that the families of the victims, as well as the families of the survivors, will take solace in knowing that "baby boomers" will long remember the tragedy. I, as well as other 1946-born children, will not forget the children who perished that day. There are many of us who still believe in the Catholic school system that grew our roots so we could spread our wings to soar like eagles. The angels of OLA are soaring above us and watch over us so that we may complete our mission to spread the good news of Catholic education. It will ever be the BEST!!!