Personal experiences with Our Lady of the Angels School Fire on 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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Stories 654 to 645 Stories 634 to 625

Posted by:

Kristy Speer

On:

7/11/2014

ID:

644

At OLA on 12/1/58?	Born before or after 12/1/58?	Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No	Before	Worth, Illinois near 115th and Harlem

First, I pray for all who were affected by the fire. Reading about the fire, I have mixed feelings of sorrow, and fear. I learned of the fire from a Facebook group, Living History of Chicago and Illinois. I was under 2 years-old when this tragedy happened, but I benefited from from the improved fire standards. My husband is older than me and he clearly remembers the fire, what the building looked like, and all of the news reporting. As children, we were terrified by fire drills, and as a high school teacher, I know that even some of my 16-18 year-old students get frightened by the monthly fire drills. I am so grateful for those fire drills now! I am the granddaughter, daughter, mother, and wife of firefighters. We live in AZ now. I am passing on the information about the fire to my son, an AZ firefighter.

Posted by:

Donna Steffens

On:

6/10/2014

ID:

643

At OLA on 12/1/58?	Born before or after 12/1/58?	Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No	Before	Six blocks from OLA

I went to Ryerson Elementary School and could see the smoke from the fire at OLA. My cousin Kathy was in the first grade and as soon as our school dismissed us, I ran to my Aunt's house to tell her. She lived a few houses from us. My aunt had already left for the school. She frantically searched for my cousin. It was a very cold day and the homes across from the school took in the first graders, so my cousin was somewhat shielded from the scene that day. Our whole neighborhood was in mourning. A boy in 7th grade who lived across the street from us was one of the victims. It was the worse experience of my childhood and I always remember Dec 1st as the day so many children lost their lives.

Posted by:

Patricia

On:

6/4/2014

ID:

642

At OLA on 12/1/58?	Born before or after 12/1/58?	Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No	Before	We live on St.Louis

I was only 3 years old when the fire happened and I remeber standing there with my mom and my borthers. I too visit all the children at Queen of Heaven on a regular basis. My mom went to OLA. I also worked with nurses that were in training at St.Annes Hospital and we always seem to get on the subject of the fire. My parents had friends and neighbors who's children were either parrished or hurt. It was and always will be a very sad day to remeber. I have read about every student that is on this website that was lost and my heart just aches for them and their families. My prayers will always be with them and their families.

Posted by:

Carol

On:

6/4/2014

ID:

641

At OLA on 12/1/58?	Born before or after 12/1/58?	Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No	After	n/a

I read about the fire in the Catholic Digest, and I never forgot it to this day. I was in parochial school at the time. Our classrooms, also, were wall-to-wall desks. One wing of our school still had wooden flooring. This website brings back to me so vividly those years.
In those days, private schools often got the kind of "grandfathering" leniency about codes that became such a tragedy for Our Lady of the Angels. As I look back, I think that there was less worry and fewer precautions taken about dangers like fire. I wonder if it was because the threat of nuclear war loomed so large that other disasters seemed small by comparison. Or possibly, when news was not accessible 24/7, it was less easy to imagine a disaster happening to you. In any case, a thing like a locked exit door would not have seemed the outrageous stupidity it would be today.
Elsewhere on this website it is noted that no emotional counseling was offered the victims and their families. This seems incredibly callous to us today, but oldsters like me remember that such counseling didn't exist then; we should understand that it was not something readily available and callously withheld.
About 10 years ago, a young firefighter told me that the fire at Our Lady of the Angels is one that she and her colleagues studied. I am glad it has not been forgotten. I am glad that we reverence the memory of all who suffered, and that the tragedy is part of building knowledge and skills to benefit those who were unborn when it happened.

Posted by:

Diane Clay

On:

4/5/2014

ID:

640

At OLA on 12/1/58?	Born before or after 12/1/58?	Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No	Before	Cicero, iIll.

I was in Kindergarten at St. Mary's in Cicero. I remember people and teachers taking about the fire. It gave me bad dreams. I saw my school on fire. Then they remolded our school and I felt better. I didn't think of it for a while. Then fires were happening in our town. A boy was accused of setting the fires. People were killed. Then they said he set the fire at Our Lady of the Angels. Some of our nuns were very upset. They talked about what happen. We were a little scared. The years went by. I moved away. I live in Wisconsin now. Someone started a fire at a school I taught at. I am retired now. It was early in the morning. No one was there. There was a lot of damage. I was talking that we should be glad that school wasn't in secession. Than it hit me. Not like the school in Chicago. Our Lady of the Angels. I was in tears. I haven't known anyone from the school or the fire. I was so confused. I found this web site. And I also read the book To Sleep with the Angels. It has helped me understand what happen and to fine some peace. I guess it has been with me for these 55 years. My school looked so much like Our Lady of the Angels. They were built around the same time. St. Mary's is still standing. No longer a school. A hundred year old building. May they rest in peace now.

Posted by:

averd

On:

3/26/2014

ID:

639

At OLA on 12/1/58?	Born before or after 12/1/58?	Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No	Before	Chicago Ave between Ridgeway and Hamlin

I only heard the story because I was only 1 yrs old when the fire happened. My mom told me that she heard there was a fire at the school and she ran and left me sleeping in my crib to go find my 3 older brothers....She could not find them at first but eventually she did at a house nearby the school. My oldest brother in the 8th grade probably survived partly because he was in the basement packing up clothes for the poor instead of his upstairs classroom. They were very fortunate that day. Ironically, my 3 older brothers have all since passed away. Anthony Verdone my oldest brother at 39 yrs old, then Carl Verdone at 46 years old, and the 3rd James Verdone at 55 years old. At least they had the opportunity to grow into adults and live their lives, however brief, rather than dying as children as the many other tragedies of that day. God Bless them all.

Posted by:

David Hresko

On:

2/12/2014

ID:

638

At OLA on 12/1/58?	Born before or after 12/1/58?	Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No	Before	Pennsylvania

I'll never forget, I was in first grade of our small town Catholic School, and I saw a picture of a woman rushing to the OLOA school in our local newspaper and my mother told me about the tragic fire. We all prayed for the Nuns and children in our school the next day, my teacher in first grade was Sister M Pierre,SSCM, and she explained to us about how one of the nuns at OLOA school lowered her students out the window and dropped them to people below to be caught. She did this until she was overcome and died. I was terrified at the thought of a fire happening in our school,and I thank God every time I think about those poor souls at OLOA,and the parents who lost their children there. I'll never ever forget that newspaper picture of frantic people standing there, unable to do anything. This all happened the first day back to school after Thanksgiving break for them. Thank God for all the safety we have in our schools today because of tragedy in years gone by. Thanks for the chance to tell my story. I always felt somehow connected to somebody from that tragic day in Chicago. I pray they RIP. God Bless!

Posted by:

Marissa R

On:

1/24/2014

ID:

637

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 know why I am so drawn to this story. Maybe it's because I attended Catholic school for 11 years or maybe it's because my young daughter is now attending Catholic school as well. I think about this day often and what it must have been like. The anguish of the parents and the fear of all of the children. Thank you for making this site so those who lost their lives and those who were touched bu this tragedy can be remembered.

Posted by:

Dell T.

On:

1/22/2014

ID:

636

At OLA on 12/1/58?	Born before or after 12/1/58?	Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No	Before	Chicago, South Side

I was a sixth grader attending a catholic grade school on the south side of Chicago when the fire occurred. To this day, I can never forget the memories of what happened at OLA on December 1, 1958. I can identify with the type of building that housed the OLA school since it was very similar to the school I attended. Although I had no way of knowing any of the children, nuns, or lay teachers at OLA, I still will always remember them.

Posted by:

leslie

On:

12/30/2013

ID:

635

At OLA on 12/1/58?	Born before or after 12/1/58?	Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No	Before	on long island

When I was a very small child, my mother found me transfixed in front of our tv. The horror of the OLA school fire was being broadcasted with pictures of the burning school, and frequent mentions of the dead and dying children. From about that time, I developed a terror of fire that was very dramatic. My recollections of my fear was that it was real and terryfying. As was typical of the times no would talk to me about the fire, and I was terrified for years. When I got older my Mom finally told me about "some school fire on tv," that frightened me. Now that I am much older, I researched, and here I am. What a devastating thing to happen! No word can describe something so tragic. I' sorry that these children and their nuns had to die or be severely hurt to make the world realize that the schools weren't safe. God keep them all - those that are gone,those who lost their own, those who were so hurt, and those who had to experience that terrible day.

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