Wake tomorrow in Mundelein for hiker who died at national park

A wake is set Tuesday at a Mundelein funeral home for a woman who recently died after falling from a bridge into a swift-moving creek while hiking at Glacier National Park in Montana.

Elizabeth "Betty" McNamara, 62, of Kansas City, Mo., slipped and fell about 4 feet from the Virgina Falls bridge about 1 p.m. June 18, according to the National Park Service. A dive team the next day found her body trapped under water roughly 220 yards downstream from the bridge.

McNamara graduated from Carmel Catholic High School in Mundelein in 1966, where she was a National Honor Society member.

Visitation for McNamara is scheduled from 3 to 8 p.m. at Kristan Funeral Home, 219 W. Maple Ave. in Mundelein. A funeral Mass is set for 10 a.m. Wednesday at St. Mary of the Annunciation Church, 22333 W. Erhart Road in Fremont Township near Mundelein.

Glacier National Park spokesman Wade Muehlhof said McNamara's husband, Jim, crossed the Virginia Falls bridge before his wife slipped and fell. He said the bridge was not wet and weather conditions were dry.

Witnesses provided an account of the incident to authorities.

"Almost immediately, within a step or two, she fell off," Muehlhof said.

One of the witnesses and McNamara's husband ran to the creek's bank, but lost sight of the woman. About 20 National Park Service staffers searched both banks of Virgina Creek, with additional help coming from a helicopter crew, search dogs and the divers.

Authorities said the white water hampered the search. McNamara's body was recovered about 24 hours after she fell into the water.