Our School History
1909 - 2009
In 1909, German families were beginning to move south toward the 43rd and Roanoke Parkway area, Fr. Ernest Zechenter purchased a lot on the northwest corner of 43rd and Mercier Streets for $2000. The idea was suggested to him as the result of a card game in the home of one of the founding fathers. This lot, 200' x 132', was large enough for a church and a school/convent. Forty-third Street was part of the old Santa Fe Trail. It and most of the other streets were not paved. By September 1909, a two-story brick building 65' x 55' had been erected on the northwest corner of 43rd and Mercier with a chapel on the second floor, school rooms and quarters for the Sisters on the first floor, and a clubroom in the basement. The congregation celebrated Mass in the new space on the feast of the Guardian Angels, 2 October 1909. The German name of the new parish was Schutz Angel Kirche; that is, Guardian Angel Church.On 11 September 1910, a school with 40 pupils was opened with the Sisters of St. Benedict from Atchison in charge. The students occupied two rooms and the Sisters the other two. It is said that in those first days cattle grazed up to the classroom windows. The Sisters' furnishings were in a style which is called "functional" today. Orange crates served as wash stands and a wooden box with two shelves as a closet. The kitchen table was a board supported by two saw horses. Because those attending Mass on the second floor complained that they could smell the food the Sisters were preparing for Sunday dinner, the Sisters were asked to do their Sunday cooking on Saturdays. Fr. Strasburger often talked about building a new school. It did not seem very practical in those days, but over the years he accumulated a building fund of $170,000. In May, 1953, Fr. Strasburger died of a heart attack and the following month Fr. Robert E. Walton took over. During this time, five homes and a 50' lot on the west side of Mercier were purchased for $71,113 as a site for a new school and convent. The cornerstone was laid on March 6, 1955. In September, 1955, the Guardian Angles school was completed and cost $200,000. At that time there were 290 students. On September 21, 1990 it was announced that Guardian Angles and and Redemptorist Schools would be consolidated and located at the Redemptorist campus. The new school was named Our Lady of the Angels.
On 6 September 1991, it was announced that the Guardian Angel's School would close. Children could attend the two associated schools of Our Lady of Perpetual Help and Our Lady of Guadalupe which would open in the fall of 1992 with a multi-cultural program. In March 2006, Our Lady of the Angels School returned to the Guardian Angels building to make room for the Cristo Rey High school at Redemptorist. The Guardian Angel's School building was renovated to prepare for the students of Our Lady of the Angels School. At present OLA has 170 diverse students coming from seven central city parishes across our city.
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