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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: Peter MInerva On: 7/15/2020 ID: 692
Enrolled on 12/1/58? Present on 12/1/58? Injured? Age Grade Classroom Teacher
Yes Yes No 7 2 Miss Kathleen
December 1st 1958 will always be remembered. I was 7 and in 2nd grade. Our classroom was on the 1st floor and near the front entrance. Everyone in my class survived but we lost many friends and my classmates lost family members. I have three vivid memories of that fateful day. 1.We were forced to leave the building without our coats. Our teachers were concerned for our safety especially with the hallways filling with smoke. We went to our fire drill locations and waited. We were then brought into the Church where we were ultimately dismissed. We then ran home (5 blocks away). 2. I remember as it was yesterday, that we saw the first fire trucks show up. I remember it because all us kids waiting outside gave a huge cheer we they arrived. We had no idea, at that time, how serious it was. 3. My most vivid memory was that of my Dad. After he rushed home from work, he then rushed back out of the house to the school. He took some blankets with him in case they were needed either by the children or the firefighters. When he came home, he sat with my Mom and he broke down in tears. It wasn't until later that I found out that he had witnessed the firefighters carrying the deceased children out of the school and placing them in a designated holding area. My Dad was a strong man who never cried but this time it was different. When I saw this raw emotion, I then realized the severity of the situation. I will never forget this day for the rest of my life. Every year on December 1st, I grieve with the families that lost love ones that day.


Posted by: Laurie On: 7/13/2020 ID: 691
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 either in First or Second grade at Blessed Sacrament Elementary School in Trenton NJ. We had an assembly and were shown a movie about a horrible school fire. I cannot recall if we were told the school's name but I remember feeling scared and very sad for the kids who were burned and died. This memory stuck with me all these years and I have been reading all the books about it. I'm 57 now, much younger than those kids would've been. As a former Catholic school student and now a parent I cannot fathom the suffering and loss endured by all involved. Because of their story I went to safe schools. RIP little angels.


Posted by: R. King On: 12/31/2019 ID: 690
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Detroit
My Dad attended Most Holy Redeemer in Detroit, and said this fire changed his fifth grade year at the school. They started having fire drills and one window in each classroom was painted white, inside and out, so that the firefighters would know where to place their ladders.


Posted by: Linda Steck Kasper On: 12/2/2019 ID: 689
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Addison, IL
I was 6 yrs. old when this happened. I remember I overheard my parents talking about the fire and how upset my grandpa was. I didn't really know why until I was older. My Grandfather was working down the street from the school when the fire broke out. He rushed over to help get the children out of the building. One little girl died in his arms. It stayed with him for the rest of his life. He was one of many that would never forget what they experienced, or lost December 1, 1958.
61 years today, December 1,2019. Rest in Peace


Posted by: Mary Beth LaBanca On: 12/1/2019 ID: 688
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No After n/a
Uuuugggghh!!! Why does this day always remind me of these sweet innocent children? All the wonderful and amazing things they were going to contribute to the world and never got the chance. I wasn't even born yet. Praying for all involved, all who lost their lives and all who were affected by this SENSELESS tragedy. I pray that somehow God will comfort those left behind and to all 95 in heaven, I'm sure they are happy and this is all behind them. It's us left behind that are left to grieve and try to figure out this craziness even after all these years. If only the door on the top floor would have been closed. Just a closed door. If someone somehow would have gotten that disturbed boy some help sooner. And to think he knew he killed all those people, people he knew, and continued to set fires at other places through the years. It boggles my brain to think of the magnitude of his sickness!! How did he live with himself for the rest of his life? Love and prayers to all, God bless everyone involved that day all those years ago.


Posted by: Grizz65 On: 10/8/2019 ID: 687
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before northern suburbs
I lived a mile south of OLA, just south of Garfield Park...Madison and Homan. We lived in the 3400 block of Monroe St. I walked two blocks east to Marshall for kindergarten and most of first grade.

We moved from the neighborhood in March of 1954, when I was still in first grade. My new school was almost just over nine miles due north of OLA, and about a half-mile to the east.

I was a 6th grader on the day of the OLA fire. It was a bright sub-freezing early-winter day. My seven-year-old kid sister was watching "Susan's Show" on WBBM-TV, and she was laughing at "Mister Pegasus, the Talking Table" when the first awful bulletin interrupted the show. It only got worse after that, much worse, for at least another six hours.

The news kept pouring out of the TV and the numbers kept climbing, until the death toll was past ninety. Late that night my father brought home the extra edition of the Daily News. For days, I read the newspaper stories. I was transfixed by the graphic images I saw. I could neither look at the photographs...nor manage not to. I began having nightmares about the fire. I had nightmares for weeks, and,like so many other Baby Boomers of a certain age, have never really forgotten. It has remained with us, and will until we, too, die. As I was the same age as many of the victims and had lived in a nearby neighborhood, I soon realized, to my shock and horror, that if it could happen to them...it could easily happen to me!

My greatest fear has always been of being trapped in a fire. The year before the OLA fire, I had learned about the terrible 1903 Iroquois Theater fire, in Chicago's Loop, that killed over 600, mostly women and children. A couple of years later, when I was around 13, I began devouring all the library books I could find about famous fires and deadly fire disasters. After a couple of years of that, I couldn't take it anymore, and got into reading other things, like history and sports.

For many years I was absolutely certain that I was the only one who became terrified about being in a fire because of OLA, and that there must be something wrong with me. But now, thanks to this website and others like it, I finally realize that I am far from alone. Many people my age, and especially Chicagoans who were of school-age that day, felt as I did. And we still remember how we felt. True, there are millions our age who don't, but thousands do...and hundreds of them, from all over the country, have expressed their feelings here.

My first dentist, as a kid, was Dr. Dorothy Rizzo, DDS...she was very unusual for the Fifties. Few dentists were female and Italian back then. And she was also unique for specialized in treating youngsters. Her office was above the old Alamo Theater, on Chicago Avenue, a few blocks from OLA. I later heard stories about how the authorities called upon her and made use of her dental records. I don't even know if this is true or not. But just thinking about it bothers me, and has haunted me for many years.

In 1992 I left Chicago, married my former college sweetheart, and moved to Cleveland. She attended Catholic school there, through fifth grade, but was in public school in 1958. She has no clear memories of the OLA fire. I have tried many times to get her to understand just what it was like to be a traumatized grammar-school kid in Chicago in December of 1958, and what an awful Christmas it was, but some things are just beyond words.

Whenever I hear the songs that were on the radio then..."Smoke Gets In Your Eyes"...the "Chipmunks' Christmas Song"...and especially "The Little Drummer Boy"...I remember...and I recall how awful those days were.

Ironically, I now live close to another old Catholic school, here in Cleveland, that is named Our Lady of the Angels. And of course, whenever I pass it, a chill goes through my blood that the natives will never, ever even begin to understand. They weren't eleven years old and living in Chicago on that terrible day. Some things, you just can't explain.

Godspeed to all who were there.

Grizz65
>


Posted by: Mike Holoka On: 8/7/2019 ID: 686
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Detroit
I was 8 years old and remember the fire vividly in the news. The nuns at St Agnes in Detroit told us about the fire. 90 plus dead and three nuns a horrible unthinkable tragedy. My mom just cried all night when this happened. Well as it turns out we moved to Chicago and I attended OLA in 1960 as a fifth grader. I realized it was the same school that had burned down. I think it just opened in 1960. Very nice structure and no one messed around during fire drills!Some in our class had lost relatives in the fire. Rarely talked about it but occasionally details would come out. Not many families were not touched as this was a very close mainly Italian parish. My heart still aches when I think about the tragedy that occurred. I went to school with the lady that started this page.


Posted by: Carol Ford On: 5/16/2019 ID: 685
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Chicago, IL
I am writing on behalf of my mother, Carol Ford, formerly Carol Kostelny. She was a registered nurse and took care of a young boy named Leroy (Digiglio?)and a young girl named Louise Loveless. She fondly remembers Louise as being the bravest little girl at 10 years old, with over half of her body burned. They were very close and my mother is now 82 years old and I thought it might be neat to somehow plan a reunion. If anyone happens to have any way of contacting Louise Loveless or her family, we would be much obliged by any news :) She also asked about Leroy and I just can't seem to find any information on either of them. My name is Christi and I can be reached via email at christiciani@gmail.com. Hoping someone knows anything! fingers crossed.


Posted by: peg On: 1/7/2019 ID: 684
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 recently researching on ancestry.com and found my moms sister grace everman and her husband bart who on 1940 census records show them working and living at the convent of Olga. I remember pictures of her working in an institutional type kitchen..and made some awesome chocolate chip cookies.It shows her as bei g the dietitian and bart as something to do w the roof 'tinner'? it also list of course the nuns that were present at the convent in 1940. if anyone does remeber grace everman please let me know. bless u all for being here today to share your stories.


Posted by: Don Kuss On: 12/5/2018 ID: 683
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Norwood Park-NW side of Chicago
I am in the process of reading the book TO SLEEP WITH THE ANGELS. It is just absolute horror but I want to get through it because my church RIVER CITY COMMUNITY CHURCH is located at 3709 W. Grand Ave. Our adopted school is Cameron Elementary at 1234 N. Monticello. The kids come to our church after school for tutoring. The kids from OLA lived all around where our church is located. The thought of what happened 60 years ago has made me fall in love with our young people from the community who now live in those homes or apartments that these angels from 1958 lived in, it made me fall in love with these kids all over again. It's a different community now and guns and drugs are the major form of danger now. Hopefully we can save many as those folks outside the school and inside did 60 years ago. Also, I was wondering after the fire were there any families that relocated to the Norwood Park area. If you did please get in touch with me-Donald Kuss on Facebook.