Elvis Presley’s Maid Said All the Life Was ‘Sucked Out’ of Graceland When He Died

Elvis Presley was at home at Graceland when he died. When his fiancée, Ginger Alden, discovered him unresponsive in his bathroom, the household flew into an anxious frenzy. Though they did not immediately know much about Elvis’ condition, his maid said it felt relatively clear that he wouldn’t be returning home. When paramedics took him out the door, it felt like all the life left Graceland with him.

Elvis Presley’s death was painful for everyone at Graceland

In 1977, Alden awoke to find that Elvis was not in bed with her. When she discovered him unconscious in the bathroom, she rushed to inform Nancy Rooks, a maid and cook at Graceland. Soon, the whole household knew and ran around trying to help Elvis and guide paramedics through the home.

“Even though most everyone seemed to sense that Elvis was already dead, we all still tried to hold on to some small glimmer of hope that he might pull out of this if we could just get him to the hospital,” Rooks wrote in the book Inside Graceland: Elvis’ Maid Remembers. “Trying to keep my emotions in check, I stayed downstairs for what seemed like an eternity, waiting for the medical team to arrive.”

Rooks stood in the foyer as paramedics brought Elvis out of the home on a stretcher. She said that at that moment, it became clear to her that he was dead.

“Strangely, on the one hand, he looked sort of like he was sleeping,” she wrote. “On the other hand, however, his face was blue and very distorted looking, and not a single muscle in his body was moving, and he did not appear to be breathing. As I look back on it, I think I knew then in my heart that he was gone. Words cannot describe the pain I felt in my soul that very moment. It was like every bit of life that had been in Graceland up to that time was sucked right out of the mansion, only to be replaced with a cold reality that nothing would ever be the same in that great house again.”

Elvis’ father kicked his fiancée out of Graceland after his death

The situation continued to devolve even after the paramedics left. Elvis’ father, Vernon, was so shaken by the day’s events that he couldn’t accompany his son to the hospital. When Alden came downstairs to tell everyone what had happened, Vernon lashed out at her.

“Vernon and Ginger were not on the best of terms,” Rooks wrote. “I think Vernon saw her as someone who didn’t have Elvis’ best interests in mind. Some of the other employees had that same attitude … Later that day, as I was standing, again, at the bottom of the stairs, Vernon was walking by as Ginger was coming down the stairs. I heard Vernon tell her, ‘You’ll have to leave now. You’re not welcome in this house anymore.'”

Nancy Rooks said Elvis was more than a boss to her

Through all this, Rooks had been holding on to hope that Elvis would pull through. She did not want to face the fact that he could be dead.

“Elvis was my boss, but he was much more than that,” she wrote. “He was also like a brother to me, as well as a good friend, and the thought of losing him was almost more than I could bear.”

Ultimately, those who had accompanied Elvis to the hospital returned to Graceland and broke the news to everyone. Rooks said that the household’s collective grief was enormous.

“That was such a sad day, one I know I will never forget,” she wrote. “There was no good news, and everyone had to deal with their grief in the best way they could.”