Canada’s Haunted Hockey Hall of Fame

This ornate building in Toronto that houses the Hall of Fame was used for over 100 years as a branch of the Bank of Montreal.

For the past 60+ years a ghost known as Dorothy has haunted this building. There have been numerous books and articles written about this female ghost with countless witness reports.

One popular backstory has been circulated for years as to why Dorothy haunts this building.

It was believed by many that Dorothy was a teller at the bank. She became involved in an affair with the branch manager--a married man. Later, when this romance soured this man jilted her. She then committed suicide on the upper floor of the bank in the mid 1900s.

A newspaper article written by The Star in 2009 revealed their research about this well known haunting.

They discovered the popular backstory about Dorothy was actually true.

The Ghost of Dorothea Mae Elliott

Dorothea was only 19 year-old when she shot herself early one morning in 1953. She was transported to St. Michaels’s Hospital where she died later.

Dorothea was orphaned at the age of 9 when both her parents died within a few years of each other.

Employees that worked with Dorothea at the bank remember her fondly. She was a popular colleague who was bubbly and beautiful. Her looks were compared to a Hollywood star of the time--Rita Hayworth.

One female employee noted that she was tall and buxom, sophisticated and well liked by the men. This same employee noted that the morning Dorothea committed suicide her blue dress appeared to be wrinkled and untidy.

Finding herself rejected by this branch manager Dorothea took a .38 caliber revolver from a drawer it was kept in at the bank and went to the 2^nd floor women’s washroom where she shot herself.

Since her death, there have numerous reports of strange activity occurring in this building--first when it was still the bank and later when it became the location for Canada’s Hockey Hall of Fame.

An Active Haunting

For many years staff and employees have refused to be in this building after 6:00 p.m. Most refuse to go up to the second floor.

Common activity reported includes: cold spots, lights flickering on and off and doors opening and shutting without cause.

Other reports include: hearing moans and screams throughout the building as well as people hearing footsteps.

Some witnesses state a phantom hand touched their shoulders.

One former Hall of Fame employee, Rob Hynes who was an events coordinator had a scary encounter with this ghost.

He was in a kitchen on the 2^nd floor behind the conference room when he got a strong feeling someone was watching him. When he entered the conference room he saw one of the chairs moving around. There was no breeze in this room.

He quickly exited this room when this chair headed for him.

One young male visitor to the Hall of Fame started to scream, “Don’t you see her, don’t you see her.” He stated that he saw a woman with long black hair walking through several walls upstairs.

In the early 1990s before the Hall of Fame was located in the building a musician by the name of Joanna Jordan was playing her harp for an event being held in the Great Hall.

She looked up and saw a ghost looking down at her from the ceiling. She had not heard about this haunting beforehand. In later years, when she visited the Hall of Fame she refused to go up to the 2^nd floor.

45 foot high ceiling

More Sightings

On the site Toronto and Ontario Ghosts and Hauntings Mathew Didier wrote about the Dorothy haunting. He at one time worked as a teller at this bank branch. His post solicited many comments.

One man who left a comment was an employer of the bank in the 1980s when it was used as office space for the bank's computer department.

He states that there was a lot of poltergeist activity and cold spots in the building when he worked there. He and his fellow workers did not share what they experienced at the time afraid of dismissal.

Because of the building’s history he and others did not like staying after 6:00 p.m. or going up to the 2^nd floor. They found Dorothy liked to play pranks.

He and forty other employees worked in cubicles on the main level. One day he left his desk to copy a paper two cubicles down from his. He was only gone a few moments but when he returned he found his space in disarray.

His desk was messed up and his coffee cup was spilled. He also found his filing cabinets were locked. None of his colleagues were close enough to have done this in the short time he was gone.

There are many more stories about sightings of this ghost on the research society site mentioned above.

Kentucky Ghostlore

William Lynwood Montell, a former professor at Western Kentucky University, spent fifteen years collecting oral ghostlore. 

He and his students either recorded these stories as they were told or transcribed them carefully so they could be reprinted word for word.

The folklore narratives they collected had all been passed down from generation to generation. Montell published his collection in a book entitled, Ghosts along the Cumberland.

All these stories were collected in the south-central Kentucky foothills known as the Eastern Pennyroyal or Pennyrile.

Among the locals, Tale swapping was a regular form of entertainment. In this part of the U.S., ghost stories were referred to as tramp tales or bear tales. This kind of story was often shared while getting a haircut or told by a grandparent in the home.

The following is one of my favorites from this book. Since most “oral” folk stories do not read smoothly, I have taken the liberty to tweak this one.

Dividing Up the Dead

Origin 1791

One dark night a slave named Sam approached his master and said, “The Lord and the Devil are up at the graveyard, dividing up the dead.”

What actually was going on--two men were gathering hickory nuts and had gone into the graveyard to divide their nuts.

As Sam had passed the graveyard, he heard two voices mumbling, “One for me and one for you. One for me and one for you.”

His master replied, “Now, Sam, you know that can’t be true.” He continued, “ If I could just walk, I would go up there and see for myself.” The old master had been injured in an accident years before and couldn’t walk.

Sam was able to convince his master to let him carry him on his back up to the graveyard. As they stopped by the gate to listen, they heard the mumbling, “One for me and one for you. One for me and one for you.”

Finally, the counting stopped. One voice said, “That is all.” Another said, “No, there are two more by the gate. *

It is said this master who had not walked in years outran the strong slave back to the house.

* What the nut hunters actually meant--each had dropped one nut by the gate as they went in.

Indiana: A Faithful Companion

Highland Lawn Cemetery located in Terra Haute Indiana is the location for one of this states most unique and enduring ghost stories. Local residents have passed down this popular tale for several generations.

John Heini

Stiffy Green was known by all to be a faithful companion. He was a bulldog that was devoted to his master, John Heini. When Heini died in the 1920s Stiffy was devastated.

It was said after Heini’s death Stiffy would constantly return to the Highland Lawn Cemetery where he would keep vigil outside the Heini Family Mausoleum. Stiffy “forever grieving for his lost master” started to refuse food and water.

He was found dead one day on the steps of the Heini crypt. John Heini’s relatives had this bulldog’s body stuffed by a taxidermist and then placed his body with his master in the family mausoleum.

Guarding His Master

Soon after John Heini and this noble dog were reunited witnesses started to report some unusual sights and sounds. Many visitors to the cemetery reported hearing a dog’s bark in the vicinity of the Heini crypt.

Heini Crypt

Other witnesses stated that they heard Stiffy howl which effectively scared off thieves and the curious.

Some reported seeing a misty figure of an elderly man that appeared to be Mr. Heini walking with a stiff-legged dog in the neighborhood that surrounds the cemetery.

Witnesses also reported that the stuffed body of Stiffy seemed to shift positions within the crypt.

Many felt this devoted bulldog was still guarding its master. For people noted Stiffly’s green eyes glared out at anyone that might be an intruder.

With all these eerie tales and the belief that Stiffy still guarded Mr. Heini a Legend Tripping tradition began. Teens on dates would go to Highland Lawn Cemetery after dark with their flashlights. They then would flash their lights into the crypt to catch a glimpse of Stiffy’s menacing green glass eyes.

This tradition only stopped in the mid 1980s when the Vigo County Historical Society removed Stiffy’s stuffed body and relocated him to a replica Heini crypt--built by the Terra Haute Lion’s Club-- located within their museum.

Stiffy and replica crypt at museum.

Newspaper report about
vandalism.

They moved Stiffy in order to preserve him--for vandals shot bullets into the Heini Family Mausoleum and damaged part of his body and one glass eye.

My Mother’s Return

Here is a 1^st person account from the 1950s about a son’s angel.

My mother died too young. My father had a portrait of her framed and placed it above our fireplace mantle, it was his way of telling us kids she still watched over us.

Seven years after her death I was in college in Pennsylvania when my uncle invited me to go hunting with him in the Pocono Mountains.

My uncle returned to the lodge early but I enjoying the day continued to hunt. I stuck to a well-trodden path since I was not familiar with the area.

It was late afternoon and the sunshine glistened at a low angle off the tall trees that surrounded me. I stopped to shade my eyes so I could get a clearer view of the trail in front of me.

Suddenly, to my right I spotted a human figure in the shadows. Startled, I realized that just 30 yards away from me stood my Mom. I could only see her head and shoulders amidst the shadows but there was no mistaking that it was my deceased mother.

I stood rooted to my spot dumbstruck not comprehending at first what was happening. I remembered my binoculars around my neck and lifted them to my eyes.

Yes, it was my mother and she was smiling at me. I couldn’t manage any words but I silently stated, “Hi Mom.” I waited but received no response.

I watched this image for what seemed like an eternity but it was actually just a few minutes. Then her face slowly faded away.

Coming to my senses I stated out loud, “Bye Mom, thanks for visiting.”

I continued down the trail wondering if what I had seen really happened. I had walked about 50 more yards down the path when a rifle shot rang out.

The bullet smashed into a tree that stood on the path in front of me. It hit the tree at my eye level. I realized that if I had been 20 more yards down this path the bullet would have struck my head.

It dawned on me why my mother had appeared. She had delayed me just long enough so that I didn’t reach the spot where the bullet hit.

Without her intervention I would not have been able to walk away.

Dad was right, she still watches over us.