Tim Horton, the namesake of a fast-growing chain of restaurants in the United States and Canada, was not only a member of the National Hockey Association’s Hall of Fame, but he was a Master Mason. He became a Master Mason in 1962 in Kroy Lodge #676 in Thornhill, Ontario.

During his 23-year NHL career, Horton was on four Stanley Cup winning teams with the Toronto Maple Leafs and he was named a first or second-team all-star six times. Like many NHL players in the 1950’s and 1960’s, he needed to work in the off-season for financial reasons. He opened Tim Horton’s Donut Shop in Hamilton, Ontario, which subsequently has grown over the years to become a chain with more than 2,500 stores.

Brother Horton’s story and tragic death is related in a new book, Forged on Ice, by Robert A. Goodman, a Pennsylvania Mason, who lists, among other items, all the Masons who are in the NHL Hall of Fame.  As Horton’s NHL career was winding down in 1974, he was playing for the Buffalo Sabres. He had been injured when a puck hit him in the jaw. Determined to play at the next game, he took pain killers and played in the game on Feb. 19, 1974, and was named one of the three stars of the game. Forged on Ice then relates what happened:

“After the game, he met up with his business partner at the Tim Horton’s donut office. They spent the night and early morning discussing business plans and dreams. By four in the morning, Tim got into his car and raced away. It was the last time anyone saw him alive. Shortly thereafter, his car was found at the side of the road, and the strongest man to ever play in the NHL and six-time all-star with four Stanley Cups was dead.” Brother Horton was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1977.

Incidentally, Lord Stanley, for whom the Stanley Cup – the oldest and perhaps most prestigious team trophy in North American sports competition – was named, was a Mason too. Sir Frederick Arthur Stanley, the 16th Earl of Derby, was a member of Royal Alpha Lodge #16 in London, England.

(Source: Sept/Oct 2009 issue of the Beacon, written by George Braatz, PGM/PGS)