Retired CFD Battalion Chief Chief Joseph V. Murray

When the alarm rang out for a fire at Chicago’s Our Lady of Angels School, Joe Murray felt a deep sense of dread. It was his old school, a place he knew like the back of his hand. As he approached the building on Iowa and Avers, he saw thick smoke rising—something was very wrong.

The 1958 fire claimed the lives of 92 children and three nuns, leaving the Humboldt Park community in mourning. Every block seemed to hold a family who had lost a child before they could grow up.

John Raymond and others who escaped the fire remember Joe Murray as a hero. “He pulled kids out as fast as he could,” said Raymond, who was about 11 at the time. “At first, he grabbed them and put them behind him so they could climb down the ladder.”

But as the heat intensified, Murray realized a flashover was coming. “He started grabbing the boys because he could see their white shirts,” Raymond recalled. “He’d pull them in and throw them down to the ground.”

Some firefighters tried using nets, but there were too many kids to save. Murray’s efforts were later recognized by survivors, and his story is preserved on a website dedicated to the memory of the fire. He climbed a ladder to a window in Room 210 and began pulling children out. The room was packed, so he went inside and pushed them onto the ladder.

Flames were pouring through the transoms above the doors, and the ceiling was now fully engulfed. “He sensed the room was about to flash over and ran back out the window,” Raymond said. “He grabbed two kids next to the window and tossed them out ahead of him. It was the only way.”

As he climbed back onto the ladder, the room exploded into flames, sending fire shooting out of every window with a loud roar.

Murray, who passed away on March 24 at the age of 88, is buried at Queen of Heaven Cemetery, just 100 feet from where many victims of the fire were laid to rest. His daughter, Mary Gersch Marchlewski, said, “When my mom died, that’s where they chose to bury her.”

Murray lived a full and happy life. He and his wife, Rosella, had 11 children, and he had loved her since he first met her at a roller rink in 1947. After nearly 40 years of service, he retired as a battalion chief and was honored multiple times for his bravery.

His father was also a firefighter, and the legacy of service ran deep in his family. But the fire at Our Lady of Angels left a lasting mark. “He had terrible nightmares after that,” Marchlewski said. “Every year, on the anniversary, they would come back.”

Murray’s heroism didn’t end with that day. In 1963, he helped save a 2-year-old girl who had driven a screw into her head. He sent someone to get a fine saw blade to free her, and she recovered after surgery. In 1966, he rescued a trapped firefighter during a roof collapse. And in the mid-1980s, he saved a chief from carbon monoxide poisoning after noticing he hadn’t shown up for work.

He is survived by his daughters Susan, Kathleen, Jayne, Patti Jo, and Charlene; sons Michael, Timothy, and James; 39 grandchildren; and 30 great-grandchildren. His wife and two sons predeceased him. Murray was buried in his Knights of Columbus tuxedo, a symbol of his lifelong dedication to service and community.

Thanks Dan