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Our Lady of the Angels (OLA) School Fire, December 1, 1958




<< George Cannella, IIIReturn To ListMargaret Chambers>>
Kathleen Mary Carr
Room Age Birthdate Grade B/G/T
210 9 5/18/49 4 Girl
Teacher
Sister Mary Seraphica Kelley, BVM
Address
934 N Harding 
Family
Father: Harold Carr
Mother: Virginia (Bulinski) Carr
Brother: Thomas Harold Carr
Sister: Barbara Carr
Paternal Grandmother: Mary Caruso
Maternal Grandparents: Martin and Agnes Bulinski
Great-Grandfather: Frances Musialowski 
About Kathleen
 
Interred: St. Adalbert (Niles, IL)
Memories of Kathleen
On the Sunday night before the fire, when I told Kathy and her sister it was time for bed, Kathy said she was scared, and asked me to lay with her. After awhile, she said she was okay now and instead of saying "good night daddy", she said, "good bye daddy"! When she came home for lunch the day of the fire, she asked her mother if she could stay home. Her mother told her she needed to go back to school, and to remember when you are in school the nun is like your mother and you need to do what ever she tells you to do. She died in the arms of Sister Mary Seraphica Kelley. Because her mother sent her back to school where she died, her mother carried that guilt the rest of her life. Her mother passed away in 1991.
    -- (Harold Carr, Father)
My father and Kathy’s were friends and truck drivers at the same company back then. One Saturday, my father said that he was going over to Shorty’s to work on one of their cars. He said Shorty had a daughter my age, and asked me if I would I like to go with him and play with her.

I spent a couple of hours with Kathy; we played in her room, going from one toy or game to another. She was a very sweet girl and I was disappointed that I couldn’t stay longer. When I heard that she had died in the fire, it had a very profound effect on me. There isn’t a December 1st that goes by that I don’t think about her, and all the children at Our Lady of Angels.

My prayers are with the Carr Family, her father Harold (Shorty) and her sister Barbara. My father, Jim Wilcox passed away in October 1992.

(Jim's daughter; Lynnne Wilcox.)
    -- (Lynne Wilcox, Friend)


Every December 1, each moment of the worst day of my life is relived.

Kathy was a sweet girl, and a little bit of a Tom Boy. As all sisters, we didn't always get along - she was 9 years younger. She had a charge account at the school store, she always bought something and paid a little each week. It always seemed strange to me looking back that a little girl would buy holy items rather than toys. Was God waiting for her? She had the most stunning red hair, and we all loved her.
    -- (Barbara (Carr) Elliott, Sister)