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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: Lana Esposito On: 10/21/2011 ID: 567
Enrolled on 12/1/58? Present on 12/1/58? Injured? Age Grade Classroom Teacher
Yes Yes No 8 3 Dont remember
Ii think about this fire often, I don't know why but it has haunted me forever. My brother and cousin were on the second floor in the fire, both were saved. My father was at the school and helped in the rescue of the children. My brother loaned his ring to a student for the day and the boy was wearing it when he died. I often think about that story. I also remember being rushed to the church to safety waiting for our parents to come and get us. I can still smell the smoke. Maybe one day the memory will fade.


Posted by: mary On: 9/15/2011 ID: 566
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No After n/a
My heart and prayers go out to the victims both survivors and perished.
I was born and raised in Chicago. Any time we passed OLA in the car my Mom would tell me about the horrible and sad fire that occurred there.

She was in her 20's at the time and a nursing student.

I am just now reading the book to sleep with angels. I am shocked and amazed at all the experiences. It is amazing with the many delays and highly flammable materials of the building that many survived. Of course that can never alleviate the pain for those lost.

As I am reading I often wonder to myself how would this be handled today?
Given the same information that was revealed in the book.

Now I am a parent and reading the accounts of some of the parents that day brings tears to my eyes.

I have a godmother buried at Hillside and I often pause to say a prayer at the OLA memorial.

I hope in time you have all been able to heal emotionally the best you can given this trauma.

Bless you!


Posted by: gmazzarese On: 9/9/2011 ID: 565
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No After n/a
WHAT IS A VICTIM SOUL AND WHY DO I SAY THE OLA CHILDREN ARE THE TERROR
OF DEMONS? A GUILTY SOUL WHO SUFFERS ONLY PAYS FOR HIS OWN CRIMES. HIS SUFFERING CANNOT SATISFY DEVINE JUSTICE FOR THE SINS OF OTHERS.
A VICTIM SOUL IS AN INNOCENT SOUL WHO SUFFERS. ST. PAUL WAS A VICTIM SOUL AND HE "FILLED UP IN HIS FLESH THE SUFFERINGS THAT WERE WANTING TO THE BODY OF CHRIST"-HIS MYSTICAL BODY-THE CHURCH. THESE CHILDREN
SUFFERED FOR US AND THEY ARE BEING REWARDED FOR IT IN HEAVEN FOREVER.

WE HUMAN BEINGS AND THE GOOD AND BAD ANGELS WERE ALL MADE FOR GOOD THINGS. THE FALLEN ANGELS OR DEMONS ARE NOT PAINED BY SINNERS BE-
CAUSE THEY DO NOT SEE IN US SOMETHING THAT THEY WANT OR NEED. ON
THE OTHER HAND, IN JESUS AND MARY AND ALL THOSE WHO MOSTLY RESEMBLE
THEM THEY SEE A PARADICE LOST. AN UNBEARABLE PAIN WORSE THEN THE FIRE OF HELL.

CALL ON THE OLA CHILDREN AND SEE HOW QUICKLY THE DEMONS OF SIN AND DISPARE FLEE FROM YOU. THIS IS WHY YOU FEEL PEACE IN A CATHOLIC CHURCH. THE DEMONS CANNOT GET NEAR THE BLESSED SACRAMENT.

BELOVED OLA CHILDREN AND TERROR OF DEMONS SHOW US YOUR POWER. BE OUR
HELP IN EVIL TIMES AND PRAY FOR US.


Posted by: Gerard Mazzarese On: 9/8/2011 ID: 564
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No After n/a
THE OLA CHILDREN ARE VICTIM SOULS CHOSEN BY GOD FOR THEIR GREAT MISSION TO SAVE US IN THIS EVIL AGE. IT'S ONLY BEEN A COUPLE OF DAYS SINCE I HAVE LEARNED THEIR STORY BUT I HAVE CRIED AND PRAYED AND MEDITATED VERY MUCH. THE OLA CHILDREN WOKE UP FROM THEIR NIGHTMARE IN THE MOMENT OF DEATH. ALL HEAVEN, JESUS, MARY, THE ANGELS AND THE SAINTS WERE THERE TO GREET THEM AND TO LEAD THEM UP. ON THEIR HEADS WERE PLACED BEAUTIFUL CROWNS OF EVERLASTING VIRGINITY, MARTERDOM AND VICTIMHOOD. THEY WILL FOREVER BE 8 OR 9 OR 10,11,12,13,14 OR 15.
ADULTS ARE ADULTS IN THE NEXT WORLD BUT CHILDREN REMAIN AS THEY ARE ON THE OTHER SIDE. THEY WERE ORDINARY GOOD KIDS BEFORE THE FIRE BUT THROUGH THE TORROR AND AGONY OF THE FIRE, THEY, IN A FEW SHORT MINUTES, SHOT UP LIKE A REVERSE BOLT OF LIGHTENING TO THE HIGHTS OF SANCTITY. THEY ARE MOST LIKE JESUS BECAUSE OF THEIR INNOCENCE, SUFFERING AND VICTIMHOOD. THEY ARE THE TERROR OF DEMONS.

SUSAN SMALDONE AND ALL YOUR COMPANIONS WE LOVE YOU. PRAY FOR US.


Posted by: john raymond On: 9/8/2011 ID: 563
Enrolled on 12/1/58? Present on 12/1/58? Injured? Age Grade Classroom Teacher
Yes Yes Yes 11 5 212 Sister Mary Clare therese
Over fifty years have passed and I still hurt.Sometimes I handle it well but when I think of it which is almost all the time I feel the pain .. There is not a day I have not thought of the fire, not one single day. its always on my mind almost always in the forefront. I never forget the details the sounds I still hear , the calling for their mothers and calling for Sister. Some people blame the Sisters and I take offense to that because they did all they could... I guess after all these years its impossible to forget ... something like 9/11 ...And for some people its some other event in their lives which will stay with them forever.. I pray for them and I pray for all of us who have survived. The pain is still here and prayer is the only thing that lessons it ......We all have our memories and they all are equal in their own way. I just feel so down today, but I will pray for strength and I shall receive.


Posted by: Diane Chauncer On: 8/29/2011 ID: 562
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No After n/a
I have been reading the book "To Sleep with the Angels" lately. I was born in 1963 and I just find this so horrific. I remember hearing my parents talk about this story, but as a kid I didn't pay much attention to it. I grew up not very far from the school, but I'm now married with 3 kids and live in Norridge, Illinois. I could just cry reading this book and what these poor kids and their families have been through. After having children myself, I can understand the horrible grief these parents went through. The death of a child is the absolute worse. Also, the painful process of healing such as skin grafting sounds awful. I hope Irene, Gerry and the other survirors are all doing well and living wonderful lives now. Shame on the archdiocese for allowing children to go to such a "fire-trap" of a school. I went to St. Priscilla's grade school on Addison and this was built in 1927. There were alot of wooden stairs and I never recall any type of sprinkler system. It has recently closed it's doors due to lack of enrollment. All of those victims are now God's little angels. God bless them and their surviving family members.


Posted by: A.J On: 8/16/2011 ID: 561
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No After n/a
I have been volunteering with the newly reopened Our Lady of the Angels Mission. The Franciscans have been laboring intensely for the past few years to restore this parish in order to return a Catholic presence to the neighborhood.

The memorial out from to the fire victims is strikingly beautiful and poignant. Every time I am inside the church working with the restoration work, I always say a prayer for the repose of the souls who perished that day.

Check out the webpage; it has photos of the great work the Franciscans have been doing and of the memorial: http://www.ourladyoftheangelsmission.com/index.html

There is also information how how to get involved with the effort in revitalizing OLA and making the parish a beacon of hope for the residents of the West Side.


Posted by: skye On: 8/11/2011 ID: 560
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No After n/a
I attended a Richmond Va catholic school from 1970-1976. I had one nun there who put our little 3rd grader feet right into the stirrups. She told a horrible story of a school fire when a nun rolled students down the stairs to escape the fire. I was so nervous after that. I remember the school cornerstone that read "AD1952"--just a few years before the OLA fire. It gave me a shudder.

My mother's aunt, a Religious of Christain Education, had a great fear of fire.

The school has been greatly renovated, as I had seen while I attended a meeting in some lower room. Six to eight innocent little tealights sat on a center table, I guess to provide mood lighting. But I was so scared of those little candles I couldnt take my eyes off them. I never went back again.


Posted by: Bill Rogers On: 7/27/2011 ID: 559
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Chicago Heights
My sister and I attended Saint Agnes Catholic School in Chicago Heights in 1958. I remember the fire very well. My little sister had nightmares for months after the fire she was afraid to sleep alone. She was seven at the time. It was a terrible wake up call for school safety. I have thought about those poor kids and their families many times over the years.

Bill Rogers
Morehead City, NC


Posted by: Sam Gallo On: 5/31/2011 ID: 558
Enrolled on 12/1/58? Present on 12/1/58? Injured? Age Grade Classroom Teacher
Yes Yes No 7 2 Unknown Don't remember
I remember waking up that morning and looking out the window and seeing snow. My brother Frank (also in the fire) got dressed and left for school early. We weren't about to let this kind of snow go to waste. All the way there we flung snowballs at basically everything that moved.
When we got to school, the first announcement from the teachers was: There will be no snowball throwing on school property or on the way to or from school. Anyone caught will be sent home. So, needless to say at lunchtime, Frankie and I were in the playground flinging snowballs everywhere. All of a sudden I felt the tap of doom on my shoulder. One of the yard monitors had me cold. Frank came over and we tried to talk him into letting us go but he told us to follow him to the office. I remember praying ALL THE WAY THERE. Finally, we were about two doors away from the office and he decided to give us a break, with the promise that we wouldn't do it again. About three hours later, we were wishing we would have been sent home at noon time.
I was lucky enough to get out right away, and the people who had houses on Avers started bringing us into their homes. I sat there with a front row seat watching as the school went up in flames.
I finally saw the chance to get out of the house and I made a run for the door, but got pulled back by the owner of the house. He asked where I thought I was going, and I told him, I'm going back for my brother.
He tried to assure me that my brother was probably in another neighbors house. I saw a second chance when he was busy on the phone and actually made it part way through the crowd before I felt a tug on my pants pulling me back. It was the owners wife this time. She brought me back in the house again. I sat there at the window, watching these classmates and friends of mine jumping out of the third story windows, their clothes on fire and then hitting the ground. I just couldn't sit there anymore.
My third, and final attempt, I made it all the way through the crowd but a fireman grabbed me and the home owner was right behind me. They brought me back to the house and made sure I couldn't get out again.
I remember my aunt's and uncles arriving and mom and dad. They were horrified because no one was able to find Frank.
They separated and each went to a different hospital and morgue and the temporary morgues that were set up.
They searched for hours and hours looking at the poor lifeless bodies of the children that had perished.
What none of us had realized, was that Frankie had already jumped out of the third story window, crawled over to the little mom and pop store that was across from the playground, and told the owner that the school was on fire. Frankie's picture appeared on the cover of LIFE magazine that month with a fireman, who dubbed him The Littlest Hero.
Frankie passed away a few weeks ago on May 8, 2011, but he always remained My Hero.
Sam Gallo