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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: Marnie Reeves On: 3/18/2005 ID: 218
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Detroit, MI
I was in the 5th grade at St. Jude elementary school on Detroit's east side when the OLA fire happened. I remember our teacher telling us about it, and then bringing in newspaper articles about the tragedy and having us remember the OLA students in our daily prayers. I think one of the newspapers she brought to class one day must have been from Chicago, because it was one with individual photos of all the kids who'd died in the fire, and seeing children my age who had died scared the living daylights out of me. I had nightmares about being trapped in burning buildings.

Many years later, I was on vacation with my mom and the fire alarm in the hotel started ringing in the middle of the night. I bolted up immediately, grabbed our purses, and guided my sleepwalking mom down the stairs and outside. There were only a handful of other pajama'd people standing outside, and most were grumbling about the inconvenience. A man from the hotel office came out and announced "false alarm" and urged everyone to return to their rooms. But I was scared, and decided to walk around the building outside to calm down. When I got to the back, I smelled smoke. I dashed to the office, had the guy call 911, and about five minutes later we heard a loud "kaboom." Luckily, the fire department arrived right after that, and put out a fire that had started (and luckily was contained) in the laundry room. Moral of the story: take EVERY fire alarm seriously!!


Posted by: John A Gorski On: 3/13/2005 ID: 217
Enrolled on 12/1/58? Present on 12/1/58? Injured? Age Grade Classroom Teacher
Yes Yes No 8 3 ? ?
Try and remember a tragic event that has left a scar in your mind for all time is a very hard thing to do. But for the most part I remember just the alarm going off and filing out into the street by the convent and then looking around and seeing the building on fire between the rectory and school...then the teacher telling us to go home if we lived close by or go to the church...Since I lived at 935 north Avers, I ran home...running along Hamlin Ave. to Stachura's home next to the church, cutting through their yard and into the alley..at that point without a jacket or hat...I really didn't feel the cold when I seen what really was the problem. I stood transfixed as I seen the many ladders against the school...the smoke and flames that were coming out of the roof and windows...the screams the shouts the confusion that was in that alley...I was pushed by someone I knew to get to the candy store. I got pushed along the alley to Avers Ave and into the Store...Barabra grabbed me and kissed me and pushed me to the back room where Helen was already...Helen was Barabra's Daughter and I was sweet on her and the Golwacki's were good friends of the family...Helen and I watched out the window for a long time...we were transfixed by what we were watching...But when the bodies were begining to be brought out, Barabra came back and saw us watching and closed the curtains and told me to go home...she gave me a blanket and pushed me out the back door and said go home...Which I did...I got home and watched what I could from our porch windows until my dad and two sisters finally came home...I never answered the telephone..it kept ringing...my parents were divorced at the time and it turned out to be my mother calling and calling...when everyone was finally home...my dad told us to accept it for what it was...then he told me that Mark Stachura had died...he knew Mark and I were best friends. This bothered me and I wanted to go to his home and see for my self...I was told to forget it and go to bed.
I did but the thoughts and memories of this day live on. At times those thoughts are so vivid I can smell the smoke. I can hear the screams. My memories are clouded by time and distance. But whenever I do go back to the neighborhood it all comes back to me...what was there and what was done after the fire and what has happened to the neighborhood now. I miss the old neighborhood...my friends...the summer nights...the ball games on the corner of Iowa and Avers...the softball team...and even the Sunday morning 9am mass...ah, but to relive a summer in the city eh!


Posted by: Pat On: 3/5/2005 ID: 216
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Hammond, Indiana
Like so many of the rest of you, this is one memory that is totally unforgetable. I was home sick from school that day too, and was watching the fire coverage on TV. I was frightened then, and that has remained with me my entire life. I am one of those who always reads the excape routes on the back of the door in hotels.

We moved to Illinois in 1963, and then I attended a school built around 1890 with a fire escape that was never used and the wooden stair case and wooden floors. I was happy to graduate from 8th grade there--the last day of school, the 8th graders were "allowed" to slide down the fire escape slide tunnels. They were not used at any other time, such as during fire drills. I used to sit as close to them as possible, even tho it was cold in the winter, just in case. My high school was only 10 years old, all on one level and had plenty of doors. Still, as many of us baby boomers as were packed into the halls while changing classes, any emergency would have made it difficult to exit, especially if anyone panicked.

All of the memories were brought back again on 9/11. We watched the news program where people were jumping from the twin towers to escape the inferno of burning jet fuel.

God bless you all.


Posted by: jane neubauer On: 2/24/2005 ID: 215
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No After n/a
i found the book TO SLEEP WITH THE ANGLES on my moms night stand and started reading it its a touching story. Richard Scheidt is my moms best friends husbands dad. im not done with the book yet but ive cried already and thats saying something.


Posted by: Cristal On: 2/22/2005 ID: 214
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No After n/a
This past month i have been doing alot of research regarding Our Lady of Angels School Fire. I have read many interesting things. Up until this last month i had never heard of any of this before. All i want to say is that even though i didn't know all those kids that died and their families i feel really bad. while i was reading the stories of those who survived tears were coming out of my eyes because i can't imagine going through anything like that. GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU AND R.I.P THOSE ANGELS WHO DIED.


Posted by: Marilyn Neenan On: 2/17/2005 ID: 213
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Wilson, Arkansas
I found this site quite by accident, but I believe by divine providence. In 1958 I was almost 10 years old and attending school in a building very much like Our Lady of the Angels. I believe I was born with a terror of fire and my school had always scared me . . . all the polished wood and an ornate open staircase which was the only way on or off the third floor, high ceilings and transoms over the doors. Grades 1 - 12 were in the building. It was a small town. It had no fire escape except for stairs leaving the auditorium at the rear of the large building and a very rickety metal fire escape from the penthouse on the roof where typing classes were held. I was fearful before December 1, 1958 and afterwards it was worse. Everything I feared had happened to other children. It was useless for my parents to tell me not to worry. I suffered through another 5 years dreading every day until the town built a new glass and steel 1 story school. I breathed a sigh of relief as I watched the wrecking ball demolish the old school. The fire in Chicago had a profound effect on me. I never knew any of the people involved but it did not matter. I was devastated at their loss. Never a week has passed that OLA has not entered my thoughts in some way. I finally decided to read "To Sleep with the Angels" and face my demons. I cried again, but at least I know more now. I still find it hard to understand how we could have been allowed to attend school is such places. . . old, perhaps beautiful, but oh so dangerous. I enrolled my daughter in a private school in 1985 because her assigned public school in Memphis was an old red brick 3 story building built in the 1930's. I couldn't afford it really, but I could do nothing else. I would have been fearful of leaving her every day. I am glad I found this website. Most of all I want to finally say to the victims, and you are victims just as surely as if you too had perished that day. . . please know you are loved and prayed for still in places far from the neighborhoods of Chicago.


Posted by: Marc Seeger On: 2/13/2005 ID: 212
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Chicago's southside
Last spring I was a judge for the Chicago History Fair.
One of the displays I was asked to judge was on fire prevention which used the Our Lady of Angels Fire for its major influence on updating fire prevention techniques. After the fair, I remembered how impacting the tragedy had been, and I realized that there are many parents, siblings and friends who still carry the pain of that horrible day, and I felt God's compassion for them. I reviewed various websites on the fire, and when I found this site, I read the letters and felt compelled to write.

On December 1, 1958, I was a third grader in a public school (Caldwell) on Chicago's south side. Most of the students were either Jewish or Catholic, and the teachers were predominantly of Catholic background. The day after the fire one of the teachers, herself a Catholic, shared with us how she knew many of the sisters at Our Lady of the Angels school. I remember that we students were unusually quiet and somber as we listened to her talk.

As I read over your letters, I was impacted by how real the memories and pain of that day still remains in so many people's lives and how there are so many thoughts and questions about God. I was raised Jewish but through my own search for God many years ago I have come to know Jesus as my loving Messiah, and through the study and application of the bible, I have come to learn the character and nature of our loving Father, who has helped me to understand my own losses.

Dear loved ones, please know that God is not the author of tragedy, but he is there for us in ours to provide us hope and comfort.Even God the Father, knew the loss of His only begotten son, and He considers your pain no less than His. He created you, and He cares for you. God said in the messianic passage of Isaiah 53 that He (The suffering servant, Jesus) bore our griefs and our sorrows. God wants us all to know the blessing and comfort of His presence and the hope of eternal life offered through His son.

When reading through your posted stories, I particularly remember the one of the young girl who had dreams about fires and three different girls who she played with who all perished in the fire and that she now realizes that it was ESP. All I can say is that actually you have a gift from God of visions and dreams, as many had in the bible including Mary and Joseph. In Matthew Chapter 2:12-13 we read how God warned Joseph in a dream to depart form Herod's presence and go to Egypt, a dream which Joseph obeyed, and which spared his son, Jesus, from the execution of all male children age two and under (verse 16). I beleive God, in His love, was trying to communicate to you the impending danger so that people could pray and act and avoid the disaster. Ask God to help you identify and clarify this gift for use in the future. In the story of young Samuel, the prophet, we see that he did not realize that God was trying to communicate to him in the night until the priest, Eli, told him so (see 1 Samuel chapter 3).

I planned to write this letter many months ago, but I never took the time to do it. Since that time I have been accepted and have been working as a teacher at a Catholic school, a wonderful school with many wonderful Catholic teachers and students. I pray that you all may know the love, forgiveness and comfort of Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit, and remember that He promised us that "He comes to give us life and life abundantly, though the thief (Satan)comes only to steal and kill and destroy." Please don't believe the lies of Satan that God is the one who caused the tragedy when it was really the evil forces in a fallen world."

I pray that you all may come to know the peace and comfort of God that can only be found in Jesus Christ. As God has said in Jeremiah 29:13 that if "we seek Him with all our heart, we will find Him."If you want to e-mail me further my e-mail is mseeger@comcast.net. As to the girls at Regina, perhaps I will see you at this year's history fair. God bless you all - Marc Seeger


Posted by: Samantha and Mary Kate On: 1/30/2005 ID: 211
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No After n/a
Hello. We are sophomores at Regina Domincan High School in Wilmette but both of us live in the suburbs of Chicago. We are doing a documentary for the Chicago History Fair. We are very intrested in the topic of fire safety and how it has changed in schools over the years. As we looked back at our own grade school, niether of us remember seeing fire escapes, only practicing escape drills. Samantha went to a public grade school and in 8th grade learned how to use a fire estingisher in case of an emergency. This showed us how prevenlent it is that young children are protected in schools. Our high school was built in 1957, a year before the fire. We practice drills often but have no fire escapes and both of our homerooms are on the third floor as are many of our classes. We have 2 classes and lunch on the first floor. We would like to contact anyone who would like to help us with our documentary or give us information or stories. Anything would be helpful. You can contact us at Sbrayer@rdhs.org or MaSmyrniotis@rdhs.org.
Thank You,
Samantha and Mary Kate
Sophomores at Regina Dominican High School, Wilmette IL


Posted by: Paula On: 1/27/2005 ID: 210
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Chicago, IL
I have found my life intersecting with this horrible event throughout the years. My great-aunt was a surgical nurse at St. Anne's when the fire occured. I knew many of the doctors on staff at St. Anne's. My cousin is a BVM nun who personally knew the three nuns that perished. My husband's aunt lost her nephew Joseph Maffiola in the fire.

My mother had a terrible fear of fire, having been through one herself. She also had a fascination with it. As a child, I remember that if the sirens were close, we had to find out where they were going, and if it was close enough, we stayed to watch the firefighters put out the fire. She spoke often of the Our Lady of the Angels fire, of my aunt's heartbreaking stories of the cases she assisted with that day in surgery, the terribly burned children. I don't think my aunt ever got over it.

My mother passed this fascination and fear of fire along to me. I wanted desperately to become a firefighter or a paramedic, but knew that there was no chance that I'd pass the physical. Instead, I decided that I would learn as much as I could about being prepared for any kind of disaster, and that I would always be one that could be relied upon in the event of an emergency.

I had my life changing experience on 2/4/77, when the Lake St. "L" train that I was a passenger on crashed into the back of another train and fell to the ground at Lake and Wabash. Eleven people died, including the man I was seated next to. The fact that I was aware of my surroundings and knew that we were going to crash was probably the only thing that saved my life. I was injured badly enough to miss six weeks of work, and to have nightmares that led me to two years of psychological counseling.

After reading both "The Fire That Will Not Die" and "To Sleep With the Angels", I was led to this website, which I'm certain has been catharsis for those who have posted their stories. Reading the books, and the stories posted on these pages makes me relive the memories of the sirens, the chaos, the terror. If you've been through it, I'm sure that you know what I mean.

Ironically enough, in reading some of the stories posted here, I ran across one from Julie Seagraves, who I graduated from High School with. I never knew her story then, but I can testify to her fear of being trapped in a high rise fire. I work in a high rise myself, and I am a floor fire representative. Julie, if your building management doesn't have safety protocol team in place, they're in major violation of the revised City of Chicago Building Codes. Since the 69 West Washington fire, and more recently the LaSalle Bank fire, high rise building management companies have been required to put together comprenhensive fire evacuation plans, and to have drills regularly.

Any of you who work in high rises that haven't been through a fire drill, or haven't seen a evacuation plan, etc., get in touch with your building management, and if you get no satisfactory answer, call your local Fire Department and report it! Being proactive rather than reactive may save your life. Many of the stories on these pages are proof of that very fact, as my own experience has shown.

May God give His gift of strength, peace and closure to all victims of tragedy.


Posted by: Kimberly On: 1/26/2005 ID: 209
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before DesPlaines, IL
I was born April 29th, 1958, and therefore was only an infant when the fire occurred. However, growing up, on December 1st every year, from the time I was old enough to remember, my mother would always say, "Oh, I remember that so clearly, I was home with a new infant, and it was just so horrible." I heard many stories of the fire from my mother over the years. Years later, as an adult, I took my own daughter and my mother to vist her old school, St. Alphonsus, and as I walked around I remember looking at the classrooms, all the varnished wood, the windows, etc. and wondered if this is what OLA was like? It is now 2005, I am almost 47 years old and I still think about the children and the stories that my mother told me. I have told my own daughter the story and showed her this website. It never fails to make us stop and think and say a prayer together.