Excerpts from the ChicagoSunTimes.com:
When the alarm rang out for a fire at Chicago’s Our Lady of Angels School, Joe Murray felt an immediate sense of dread. It was his old school, where he had spent his childhood. He knew every hallway, stairwell, and classroom like the back of his hand. As he approached the building on Iowa and Avers, he saw thick, black smoke rising rapidly. He knew something was terribly wrong.
The 1958 fire claimed the lives of 92 children and three nuns. The tragedy left a deep scar on the Humboldt Park community, as it seemed that no family was untouched by the loss of young lives cut short.
John Raymond, one of the few who managed to escape, remembers Joe Murray as a true hero. “He pulled kids out as fast as he could,†Raymond said, recalling the event when he was just 11 years old. “At first, he was grabbing them and putting them behind him so they could climb down the ladder.â€
But as the heat intensified, Murray realized a flashover was imminent. “He started grabbing the boys because he could see their white shirts, pulling them in and throwing them down to the ground,†Raymond explained. “Some firefighters tried using nets, but there were too many kids to save.â€
Murray's heroic actions during the fire were later recognized by survivors, and his story is preserved on a website dedicated to remembering the victims of the Our Lady of Angels fire. According to accounts, he climbed a ladder to a window in Room 210 and began pulling children out. “It was hard because they were all crowded together,†he recalled. “Then he went inside and kept shoving them out onto the ladder.â€
As flames poured through the transoms above the doors, the room became dangerously hot. “He could feel the room approaching flashover and ran back out the window,†Raymond said. “On his way out, he grabbed two kids near the window and threw them ahead of him. He felt bad about it, but it was their only chance.â€
Just as he reached the ladder, the room flashed over, sending flames roaring out of every window.
Joe Murray, who passed away on March 24 at the age of 88, was buried at Queen of Heaven Cemetery, just 100 feet from where many of the fire’s victims were laid to rest. “When my mom died, that’s where they chose to bury her,†said his daughter, Mary Gersch Marchlewski.
Murray lived a full and happy life. He and his wife, Rosella, had 11 children together. They met at a roller rink in 1947, and he never stopped loving her. After nearly 40 years of service, he retired as a battalion chief with Battalion No. 11, having been honored multiple times for his bravery.
He came from a long line of firefighters—his father was a division marshal. But the fire at Our Lady of Angels left a lasting emotional mark on him. “He had terrible nightmares after that,†Marchlewski said. “Every year on the anniversary, they would come back.â€
In 1963, he helped save a 2-year-old girl who had driven a screw into her head after falling on a radiator. “He sent someone to the hardware store to get a fine saw blade to free her,†she said. She recovered after surgery.
In 1966, he was recognized for rescuing a firefighter trapped under debris from a roof collapse. In the mid-1980s, he discovered a chief missing from work and, along with other firefighters, rescued him from carbon-monoxide poisoning at his home.
Joe Murray is survived by his daughters Susan, Kathleen, Jayne, Patti Jo, and Charlene; his sons Michael, Timothy, and James; 39 grandchildren; and 30 great-grandchildren. His wife and two sons predeceased him. He was buried in his Knights of Columbus tuxedo, a symbol of his lifelong dedication to both his family and his community.
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