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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: scott On: 3/19/2004 ID: 167
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No After n/a
i am now 35. for many years growing up in the suburb of Addison, i heard aboutthe fire in chicago school that killed so many children. What i didn't know was that one of ofthe survivers was my next door neighbor. I remembered each year on Dec 1, that Ch 7 news aired a breif story about the fire. My mother told me that our neighbor , Linda Myers was in that fire and was one of the older girls shown in the old footage at one of the hospitals. She had jumped out the window on the 2nd floor and broke parts of her body. This began my interest in the fire and what happened. but i was told that she didnt talk about the fire so i never asked. since then Linda and her family moved away and i never got the chance to ask her. I have read the books about the fire and i cannot how the Catholic Church handled this tragety and how the still to this day ignore it. I find that the Catholic Church shouldbe punished for still ignoring this great tragety. i have read the Angel book several times and i cry each time. i have read the notes posted here and i sit at the FSU library crying. I feel that the Catholic Church should havea dedication to those who lost thier lives and to those who survived. i am glad i am not catholic. i think they handled this poorly.
I am grateful to those who survived and are willing to tell thier story. I may have happened over 40 years ago but you can see that this event has touched and changed many lives even if we were not there. but the reflections i hope the survivers make help them in thier healing and that knowing people ,some 40 years later, still care and remember.
I am glad for this website and the survivers have a chance to speak thier mind after decades of silence.
The Catholic Church should be do everything than can now to help those who trusted them in 1958


Posted by: Paul J. Messina On: 3/17/2004 ID: 166
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before New York City
Several years ago, I had just completed class at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland when I was taken back in time. As I walked down the hall of the school, past the library, I came across a poster. I stood there, stopped cold in my tracks... And I remembered. I was back in my classroom at Most Holy Redeemer Catholic School on the lower east side of Manhattan, a school and neighborhood very much like OLA and its community. I was in an early grade on that December morning in 1958. All did not seem normal, for the night before my parents were upset about news of a serious school fire in place called Chicago. And that particular morning, sister came into the room... We were all shocked, for it was the very first time that we'd ever seen a nun crying. Of course, that morning was December 2, 1958. As my recollection of the past faded, I continued looking at the poster in the hall of the Academy, staring at the faces of many beautiful young children. Above the faces of the kids was the title, "CHICAGO MOURNS", and above that the title of a newspaper "CHICAGO AMERICAN", the date, December 5th, 1958... the day that they were buried. I once again came across a picture of that very same newspaper cover page in a recent copy of the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) Journal. That particular issue was covering school safety. Yes, I certainly remember the incident. Something about this particular tragedy, and the thought of children dying as the result of fire has stayed with me throughout my life. And it had prompted me to do something positive about it years ago. When I moved my family out of New York City to a town in upstate New York, I was prompted to join the volunteer fire service. After a period of time, I was appointed to the position of Fire Prevention Officer for the district. Hence, my training as a Fire Safety Instructor and consequent attendance at the Fire Academy in Maryland. For the past seven years, I have worked to educate our kids in our schools about the critical subject fire safety... in their own schools and at home. Utilizing what I had learned at the Academy, I worked very hard to prepare a talk that I give to each class in our elementary schools, and boyscout troops, parent groups, seniors centers, etc. People have asked why I take the time to do this, considering the many hours that I dedicate to my paid job in the New York City Subway System and my long commute. I say that I'm doing it, "for the kids". After a lenghty talk to a second grade class at our own Catholic elementary school, St. Mary's of Fishkill, a young approached me and asked why I was doing this. I looked at her beautiful smiling face and then envisioned those kids' photos on the Chicago newspaper. I answered once again, "I'm doing this for the kids". Yes, I am doing this for Your Kids, for I will always remember your lost brothers, sisters, cousins... the moms and dads who lost their children on that December afternoon; I am doing it for you. I am also doing this volunteer work for our kids today, so that they be educated against the ravages of fire. I recently received some great news. After two years of perseverance... applications, letters to politicians, visits with political reps, I was finally able to secure a Fire Safety Grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). I am going to use the money to purchase a fire safety trailer for our kids. It is an educational tool that we can take to the schools to educate the kids, preparing them for the unthinkable! When the trailer is built and dedicated to the town in a ceremony, I hope to mention to those present just why I feel so dedicated to this cause... the protection of our children. In my own mind and heart, I will dedicate it to your loved ones. In my heart, I am hoping that my efforts somehow alleviate the pain that your families have endured. Remember that your kids have not been forgotten, not by the thousands of volunteer and career fire professionals that work each day to keep our kids safe. And please remember that good has come out of a tragedy such as this. This is reflected in the present Fire Safety Programs that are taught at the National Fire Academy and brought to our children throughout the nation. The fire at OLA has ultimately resulted in the safer school construction standards for the facilities that our kids attend today. God Bless.
Paul Messina
Fire Prevention Officer
Rombout Fire District
Fishkill, New York


Posted by: Thomas B. On: 3/14/2004 ID: 165
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Midland, Michigan
I attended Blessed Sacrament School in the 1960's, and 1 day 1 of the nuns referred to a school fire. I believe it was OLA, because she mentioned something about students being trapped and what their teacher might have been telling them when there was no escape. I also remember when waiting for a plane to leave O'Hare Airport, on 1 or 2 occassions, I would look out the window at the city lit up at night and think of the fire victims. After checking this sight, reading "To Sleep with the Angels" and old newspaper accounts, my heart goes out to the victims and survivors. I wish I could reach out and give everyone a Christian hug. If anyone has heard the song "Only Time", a tribute to the victims of 9/11, that song seems as appropiate to the OLA victims as well.


Posted by: Patti Sansonetti Leonardi On: 3/4/2004 ID: 164
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Oak Park, IL
My parents moved our family out of the city where I had been attending OLA and into Oak Park a scant two months before the fire broke out. I had two cousins who also attended OLA at the time of the fire, but they were not injured. A third cousin, Margaret (Peggy) Sansonetti perished in the fire. My father and one of my uncles spent the entire evening at the school and, eventually, the morgue, to try and find Peggy, and then ultimately to identify her body. I only recently found this site and it has brought back painful memories of innocence lost. People I've talked to who never attended OLA remember the stories and news coverage. It was my fate to have left the school two months before the fire, but the memories live on in me forever. patti_l_51@yahoo.com


Posted by: Anonymous On: 3/4/2004 ID: 163
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before New York
I was nine years old and in the fourth grade in a Catholic school similar to Our Lady of Angels at the time of the fire. I remember looking at the pictures in the paper and thinking that this could really happen to me. It was my first experience with the death of children. My mother,a devout Catholic, had us pray for all the poor little souls and their families. I remember going to school and from my second floor classroom window, looking down and wondering if I could jump if I had to. I was,and still am, terrified of fire. My mother finally hid the newspapers from me. I was obsessed. I never forgot the picture of the little shoe filled with ice. I never forgot the victims and their families and often wondered if anyone else was wondering about them. When I found this site I was stunned to find stories from those who felt the same way. Even more stunning was the possibility that the fire could have been started by a child my age! I'm ashamed to admit that I feel some relief by relaying my story considering the unimaginable suffering of those that experienced this tragedy. Thank you for allowing me to do this. I think that if I could have talked to someone when I was nine I would have felt better.


Posted by: DEE On: 3/3/2004 ID: 162
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before THE SOUTH SIDE OF CHICAGO
I LIVE IN FLORIDA NOW. BUT I HAD A SISTER IN THE SCHOOL FIRE, HER NAME WAS CAROL ANN GAZZOLA, SHE WAS IN ROOM 211. I THINK YOU PUT JE WHEN YOU WROTE. YOU CAN TALK TO ME ON THE MESS. BOARD, MY NAME IS DOLORES. I HOPE THIS IS ALRIGHT ERIC. .


Posted by: JE On: 3/3/2004 ID: 161
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 and attended St. Clare of Montefalco school
I remember hearing the news of the fire on the radio when I was on the way to the dentist office with my Dad. It was one of those things you remember for the rest of your life and you know where you were when you heard the news. We listened to the news in shock. I still remember the editorial cartoon in the Sun Times the next day showing the nuns leading the children on a stairway to heaven. I also remember all the changes we had to make in our school after that, with firedoors, sprinklers etc., and how we had to raise funds to do it. I still cry today to think about it or when I tell someone the story. Strangely enough, I now live in Florida and have a friend here who is from the North side and who knew children who were in the fire, some of whom died.


Posted by: Brother Jeremy Dominic On: 2/28/2004 ID: 160
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Hammond, Indiana
Coming home from school on December 1, 1958, my mother told me about the fire that was happening at Our Lady of the Angels School and how forty-five students had already lost their lives. Our own Catholic school, St. Stanislaus in East Chicago, Indiana had had a fire on January 18, 1958. It occurred on a Saturday evening, and one can remember the flames from the third floor engulfing each classroom. We followed the newspaper accounts of the Our Lady of the Angels Fire for many days. Just as the OLA students and teachers would later be divided into attending classes in temporary locations, so too were we. Some time after the OLA Fire, a few of my classmates and I were on the third floor of the church building where several of the St. Stanislaus School's grades were assigned during the time of transition. Looking out the windows we thought about the boys and girls at Our Lady of the Angels and how many of them had to jump, and we wondered. I kept the December 2, 1958 newspaper issue as well as the January 19, 1958 issue of another paper which reported the tragedies. As a teaching Brother I have many times reflected on what happened at OLA School. A fitting memorial ought to be reclaiming and then returning the name Our Lady of the Angels School to the building now on the site, perhaps as an alternative independent Catholic school.


Posted by: Rosemary Cibelli On: 2/28/2004 ID: 159
Enrolled on 12/1/58? Present on 12/1/58? Injured? Age Grade Classroom Teacher
Yes Yes Yes 10 4 Miss Tristano
I remember that day so vividly. I can still see myself walking down Augusta Blvd that morning with my new coat on that I got from making my confirmation just a few weeks before.
About 2:40 pm one of the boys in our room told Miss Tristano there was smoke coming in from the window at the top of the door. Miss Tristano told our class to wait in our seats while she went down the stairs to ring the fire bell. Miss Tristano closed the door behind her and ran down and rang the bell. She then came back up and saw to it that our class escaped alive. This was a very courageous act on her part, she easily could have just left the building when she got to the bottom of the stairs.
I don't believe Miss Tristano was ever recognized for her courage, I'm sure she is responsible for saving hundreds of lives by ringing that bell when she did. Time was certainly of the essence. I have waited many years to thank her for saving my life and hundreds of others.
So Miss Tristano, God Bless You and thank you for your courage. Because of you I am alive and a very proud grandmother of 5. I'm sure God has a very special place for you.


Posted by: DOLORES LABUDA On: 2/18/2004 ID: 158
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF CHICAGO
(Entry removed - please confine messages and discussions to the Message Board)