Personal experiences with Our Lady of the Angels School Fire on 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:

Missy

On:

5/24/2006

ID:

272

At OLA on 12/1/58?	Born before or after 12/1/58?	Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No	Before	Gladys and Cicero, same year moved to HOC parish.

Was in 4th grade at Resurrection. Home alone sick from school that day and saw it on the news. Family members out of state kept calling all evening because they all knew we were in Catholic school in Chicago. It took that fire to get Res school to put in fire doors in the stairwells and sprinklers. ALL our schools in the archdiocese were fire traps until then. Putting safety measures in the parish schools was the one good thing that came out of that horror. Read TO SLEEP WITH THE ANGELS a few years back. It's a powerful account of that story. I agree with the authors that church authorities at that time knew who did it and just swept it under the rug to avoid a scandal. No telling what else was under that rug.

Posted by:

Linda

On:

5/15/2006

ID:

271

At OLA on 12/1/58?	Born before or after 12/1/58?	Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No	Before	Our Lady Help of Christians Parish

I was 11 years old at the time of the fire. I remember that on that day I had to stay after school for talking. My room was on the top floor of HOC. When I looked out the back window you could see the heavy smoke even though we were a couple of miles away. At the time, I didnt know it was the school. When I got home, my father was at the kitchen table crying. He had stopped at a store on his way home from work and someone had told him there was a school on fire and that kids were jumping out the windows. The man said it was Our Lady of something on Iowa street. Our Lady Help of Christians was on Leamington and Iowa. He had to take the bus all the way home thinking his kids were trapped in the school. I had never seen my father cry. I lived between the fire station, OLA and St. Annes Hospital. All night long all you heard was sirens. I dont know why but my parents took us over a few days later to see the remains. OLA looked so much like our school. Books and shoes were all on the ground. When my children were in school if I heard a siren, it would freak me out even after all these years. It taught me never to take my children for granted just because God gave them to me. And to this day they never walk out of the house without my telling I love them. I know we are not supposed to question God but I dont think anyone who lived through that time hasnt asked WHY. God bless all the little angels and the nuns who lost their lives trying to protect them. But most of all, bless the families who have had to experience horror none of us will ever be able to comprehend.

Posted by:

Jeanne (Gillespie) Schofield

On:

5/3/2006

ID:

270

At OLA on 12/1/58?	Born before or after 12/1/58?	Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No	Before	Not sure on that date but later Gladys/Cicero

My uncle George O'Connor was in room 209 in the fire. He survived and jumped out a window. He never talked much about the fire except saying there was a lot of screaming. I went to Resurection and remember the fire drills there. The nuns would always tell us to pray for the children who died. I never understood the extent of all this time I started researching the fire. It's sad that it takes a tragedy to improve things.

Posted by:

Terry Callen

On:

4/29/2006

ID:

269

At OLA on 12/1/58?	Born before or after 12/1/58?	Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No	Before	Philadelphia, PA

I was in the first grade at St. Gabriel's school in Philadelphia, PA.One of my earliest childhood memories was coming downstairs dressed for school and seeing the front of the Philadelphia Inquirer with the headline about the fire in Chicago and the photo of the burning school building.I asked my mom what it was about and she said "A school caught on fire. A lot of children and nuns died."I read "To Sleep with the Angels" in 2000. Cried all the way through it.I understand the (new)Our Lady of Angels has closed and the School District of Chicago bought the building.

Pity.

Terry Callen
South Jersey
TCall2004@comcast.net

Posted by:

anthony guzzi

On:

4/26/2006

ID:

268

At OLA on 12/1/58?	Born before or after 12/1/58?	Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No	Before	1108 N. central Park

Although I was barely 4 years old at the time of the fire, this is one of the first memories of my life. I remember looking out the back door of the 2 flat building that we lived in and seeing the thick black smoke to the west. I can also remeber my mother being on the phone with my grandmother and saying 'My God the school is on fire ma.' I can also remember the girl who lived next door to us coming home with out a coat or jacket and telling us about the fire. And I will always remember the sirerns of the fire trucks and ambulances as they raced to the scene of the fire. I remember being very scared. I attended OLA as a first grader in 1961. I graduated in 1969. OLA will always have a special place in my heart and life. Every December 1st I tell my own children about that tragic day and they ask me questions about it. Our family lost a cousin along with a neighbor and children of several other families that we knew. I will never forget that day and I think about all of those children every December 1st.

Posted by:

Debra Moretti Morgan

On:

4/20/2006

ID:

267

At OLA on 12/1/58?	Born before or after 12/1/58?	Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No	Before	Chicago

December 1st, 1958 was my fifth birthday. We lived on Franklin Blvd. between Our Lady of Angels, the fire dept., and one of the hospitals. To this day every time I hear a fire siren I get a sick feeling in my stomach and think back on that day. I went to public school and was in kindergarden. For days after the fire my mom had to walk me to school and show me that it was made from bricks and wouldn't burn down.

I read To "Sleep with the Angels" but it took me a long time. I could only get through a few pages and would have to put it down.

I would say to all of the familys that you did not suffer alone. Fourty eight years later I still say a prayer for all of you on my birthday.

God Bless

Posted by:

Kathy

On:

4/14/2006

ID:

266

At OLA on 12/1/58?	Born before or after 12/1/58?	Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No	Before	Chicago Heights

I was in eighth grade at the time of the fire. I was late coming home from school that day and I can still see the my parents as I came into the house. My mother was busy putting supper on the table and my father was watching tv in the living room. He was crying. I had never seen my father cry, never even imagined that he would cry. He was saying to my mom in a broken voice "They're bringing out even more kids." The memory of that evening and the days that followed have stayed with me through the years. My husband is buried in Mt. Carmel cemetery across from Queen of Heaven and my daughter and I have frequently visited the gravesite and memorial to the fire victims that is there. I hope peace is with them and with their friends and families.

Posted by:

KATHY Borden

On:

4/12/2006

ID:

265

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 born 9 years after the fire but lived about 2 miles away from the school. My extended family described for me in detail how horrific it was when all the students and nuns perished. They painted for me a picture so clear it is as if I can understand the time period. Loss of property due to a fire is a stressful experience for any family but nothing can compare to the loss of children right in front of the eyes of those who love them. That helpless terror that overcomes instantly must be a haunting reocurring experience whenever a fire truck drives by or an alarm sounds. I wish peace to the families, friends and by-standers who have suffered. I am grateful that the elementary school I attended just a few years later was made safer because of this fire. I wish that lessons were not learned at such a painful price. Even all these years later we still remember and mourn the loss. I will never forget these people who once lived so close to me.

Posted by:

Patrick McCormack

On:

3/28/2006

ID:

264

At OLA on 12/1/58?	Born before or after 12/1/58?	Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No	After	n/a

As a young child at St. Augustine elementary school in Austin Minnesota, we practiced endless fire drills to the ever present stop watch of Sister Sean. We were perhaps the best drilled student body ever.

Later, I was told that Sister had been a young student at the great Chicago school fire, and had gotten her charges out, but seen the result. I have no way of knowing if this is true or not, but I do know that taking fire seriously is one thing she did.

Posted by:

Yesenia Sanchez

On:

3/19/2006

ID:

263

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 IN MY LAST YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL, AND I HAVE A PRESENTATION TO MAKE ABOUT SOMETHING THAT REALLY GOT MY ATTENTION. MY LITTLE SISTER OF AGE 11 DID A PROJECT FOR HISTORY FAIR. HER PROJECT WAS BASED ON OUR LADY OF THE ANGELS' FIRE. I WAS AMAZED WHEN I SAW THE PICTURES AND READ ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED AND HOW. I REALLY GOT UPSET AND IT MADE ME APPRECIATE MORE OF WHAT WE GOT TODAY. NOW WE HAVE FIREALARMS IN OUR SCHOOLS, MANY FIRE SCAPES, HEATDETECTORS WE HAVE AN ALARM CONNECTED TO THE FIRE DEPARTMENT WE HAVE SO MANY THINGS THAT SOME OF US DONT APPRECIATE AND MANY STUDENTS PULL DOWN THE FIRE ALARMS JUST TO MESS AROUND. IT IS REALLY SAD TO KNOW THAT MANY CHILDREN AND NUNS DIED. HOW MANY PARENTS LOST CHILDREN? AND LIKE I HAVE READ MARYLIN FORGIVE ME IF I MISS SPELLED HER NAME BUT HOW SHE LOST HER SISTER IN THAT FIRE I CAN NOT EVEN IMAGINE TO LOOSE MY LITTLE SISTER IT IS SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO LEARN. WE NEED TO LEARN HOW TO SHOW THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU THAT YOU CARE FOR & THOSE WHO YOU LOVE BECAUSE YOU WILL NEVER KNOW WHEN THE END WILL BE FOR THAT CERTAIN PERSON. ALWAYS BEFORE LEAVING TO ANY PLACE HUG THE PERSON WHOM YOU WERE WITH AND TELL THEM YOU LOVE THEM OR I WILL ALWAYS BE HERE FOR YOU. SHOW THEM HOW MUCH YOU CARE AND TRY TO APPRECIATE EVERY MOMENT YOU SPEND WITH ANY PERSON. I AM EXTREMELY SHOCKED ABOUT THIS AND I SHOW LOT OF RESPECT FOR THE FAMILIES THAT LOST ONE OF THEIR OWN. BUT NOW WE ALL KNOW THAT WE GO TO A BETTER PLACE WERE THERE IS NO HARM NOR DANGER.

R.I.P
ALL WHO WERE LOST
ON DECEMBER 1, 1958

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