The Hockey Hall of Fame (Jeff Whyte/Dreamstime.com).
Knowledge is power. Does knowing the identity of the ghost that haunts the Hockey Hall of Fame make it less scary? Read on and find out.
The History of the Hockey Hall of Fame Building
The Canton of Hockey has moved several times since it was created. Originally opened in 1943, the Hockey Hall of Fame was the first in Kingston, Ontario. The HOF moved to Toronto and has been in three locations in the city.
Since 1993, the Canton of Canada has been located in downtown Toronto, in Brookfield Place, in a historical building that formerly housed a bank in Montreal.
A Haunted Hall of Fame?
The Hockey Hall of Fame was brave when they decided to move into the building that Ms. Dorothy had been haunting since the 1950s.
Who’s Dorothy? The paranormal lady of the former Bank of Montreal, of course.
Up until 2009, when The Star dug deep, little was known about Dorothy besides her first name. Gossip spread about how the young bank teller died and why.
What was never in question was whether Dorothy was there. Things like flickering lights, echoing screams, doors and windows opening and closing, and people feeling the touch of an individual who isn’t there on their shoulders or legs.
Dorothy Details
Dorothy was overlooked by society at the time of her passing and was the victim of unsubstantiated gossip and rumors until The Star investigated and found her true story.
The young bank teller, Dorothea Mae Elliot, discharged a firearm into herself on March 11, 1953, at the tender age of 19. She would pass away on March 12 at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto.
The Media Dropped the Ball
In a gross display of reporting, the Toronto Telegram released an article on March 11 calling Dorothea an attractive young brunette and claiming that she was despondent over a love affair. Do women still have to be defined by their appearance, even after their deaths?
No papers reported Ms. Elliot’s name at the time of her passing. A notice of death available on March 13, 1953, did list her name. Had it not been for that, Dorothea would have gone down in history as a nameless, young, attractive brown-haired woman.
Rumors abounded on why Dorothea ended her own life, but an anonymous but credible source told The Star that Ms. Elliot was experiencing emotional distress due to her affair with another bank employee who was married.
Allegedly, Dorothea’s twin was the actress Rita Hayworth. The young lady was described as sophisticated, beautiful, and popular. Life had not been easy for Ms. Elliot, though. She was orphaned at the age of nine after her parents passed away a few years apart.
The Day of the Incident
On the day of the shooting, Ms. Elliot was seen at the office early. She appeared to be disheveled and looked distressed.
Just an hour later, at 9 a.m., an employee found Dorothea dead in the ladies restroom on the second floor of the bank building. No one heard a firearm being discharged prior to finding her, which is peculiar.
Ms. Elliot had used the bank’s firearm, likely kept for potential robberies and the like. The authorities were called, and Dorothea was carried down the stairs in a Windsor-style chair by an EMT and the bank’s messenger.
As mentioned before, Dorothea Elliot clung onto life before taking her last breath 22 hours after the incident at the hospital.
A truly tragic tale of a young lady with so much promise and potential. May Ms. Dorothea’s soul rest in peace. Her family does not speak of her passing and does not appreciate her memory being a source of fun.
Paranormal Sightings at the Hockey Hall of Fame
A musician, Joanna Jordan, saw a female ghost looking down at her from the ceiling of the 2nd floor. The harp player was performing for an event and was unaware of Dorothea. She was no longer willing to go on the second floor alone and described the area as spooky.
A young boy also allegedly saw Ms. Elliot when he visited the Hockey Hall of Fame, saying he had seen a woman with dark hair passing through the walls.
Last but not least, a special events supervisor at the Hall of Fame encountered a terrifying experience. At 6 a.m., the man was on the second floor looking for coffee urns when he felt somewhat like he was being watched. This feeling somehow inspired the supervisor to enter the 2nd floor conference room.
The man swears that a chair was circling around as though there was a breeze, moving into his hand. He had always been skeptical of the paranormal, but the experience scared him so bad that he ran from the room.
You won’t catch me visiting the Hockey Hall of Fame without the Ghost Busters.
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