Elvis Presley was heartbroken when his beloved mother, Gladys Presley, died suddenly in 1958. Their close relationship was the cornerstone of Elvis’ life. However, one of the cooks who worked at the famed Memphis, TN estate claims that Gladys was never too far from her son’s side, even after her passing. She once claimed the Presley matriarch’s spirit remained at Graceland after her death.
One of Graceland’s cooks believed Gladys Presley’s spirit remained at Graceland
In an interview for the website Classic Bands, one of Graceland’s cooks, Nancy Rooks, claimed Gladys Presley’s spirit remained at her beloved home after her death. She believed she felt Glady’s presence at the Memphis estate.
Rooks claimed she heard Gladys walking around the house. However, there was one part of the estate where she heard footsteps more than others.
“We always sit and hear his mother’s footsteps going up the steps,” Rooks said in her interview. “She was wearing them steps out, going up and down the steps to see about him.”
Graceland’s longtime employee Nancy Rooks believed she saw Gladys Presley’s spirit
Nancy Rooks claims she also saw a spirit or entity again in Gladys Presley’s bedroom. She explained the spooky instance in the context of the same interview.
“One time, I was in his grandmother’s room, which used to be his mother’s room. There was something that came from the ceiling, like an entity. It landed on her bed,” Rooks explained.
She explained she and another household worker experienced the same thing. “Wonder what was that? Oh, I know. It’s probably Gladys. She’s tryin’ to tell us something,” Rooks stated.
“She got an entity comin’ down from the ceiling. I don’t know exactly what it means. It might be some tears shed somewhere. But we just laughed it off and didn’t think too much about it,” Rooks concluded.
Nancy Rooks worked at Graceland for over 10 years
In 1967 Nancy Rooks entered Graceland’s music gates and remained there until after Elvis Presley died in 1977. She said she recalls the fateful day her boss died.
“I was the only maid there because one of ’em was sick, and the other one was at home because she worked nights,” Rooks explained. “The other one left me that morning to go home so she could rest and return that evening.”
Rooks said Elvis returned to the main house early in the morning from his racquetball court. She saw him stand on the main stairs to head to his bedroom and asked him if he wanted breakfast.
Per Rooks, Elvis said, “No, I don’t want anything to eat now. I just want to get some sleep. But what I would like to have is some water.” She said she asked another one of Elvis’ employees, Pauline [Nicholson], to carry the beverage upstairs.
She concluded, “Pauline said, ‘I never knew him to grab that water and drink it as he drank it this morning.’” I said, “He’s probably just tired. He just came from playing racquetball and probably was hot.” However, Pauline stood her ground, replying, “But I’ve never seen him do that before.”
Just hours later, Elvis Presley was found unresponsive in his bathroom by his fiance, Ginger Alden. He was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:30 p.m. of heart failure.
USA Today states that in a report generated weeks after his death, Elvis’ blood was found to have had extremely high levels of opiates including Dilaudid, Percodan, Demerol, and Codeine, as well as Quaaludes.
