Stevenson High School graduate dies in Tennessee boating accident

A Stevenson High School alumna from Long Grove died this past weekend in an out-of-state boating accident, school officials said.

Katie Traynor, 22, a 2006 graduate, was killed early Saturday on Dale Hollow Lake, which is on the Tennessee-Kentucky border and is about 117 miles east of Nashville, local authorities said.

Traynor was there as part of an annual trip with friends and relatives, said boating investigator Matt Majors of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

Authorities were called to the lake about 3 a.m. after the 19-foot motorboat in which Traynor was riding ran ashore, flipped and landed atop her, Majors said. Six other passengers were injured and were taken to area hospitals.

Traynor was pronounced dead on the scene. An autopsy was conducted in Nashville, but the results are not yet available, Majors said.

Authorities are investigating if alcohol was a factor in the crash, Majors said.

Traynor was a spring graduate of Purdue University's College of Nursing, a university spokeswoman said. She had begun working at the neonatal intensive care unit at the Clarian Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.

While at Stevenson, she participated in many clubs and athletic activities, including girls basketball, volleyball, the Spanish club, the sophomore and junior class boards and the art club, school spokesman Jim Conrey said.

Her older brother, Brian, graduated from Stevenson in 2005. Her younger brother, Joseph, is a freshman at the Lincolnshire school.

"Our condolences go out to the family," Conrey said. "We're saddened by the loss of such a promising young woman."

Visitation is set for 4 to 8 p.m. Friday at McMurrough Funeral Home, 101 Park Place, Libertyville.

A funeral is set for noon Saturday at United Methodist Church of Libertyville, 429 Brainerd Ave., Libertyville. Interment will be at Lakeside Cemetery in Libertyville.

In addition to her brothers, Traynor's survivors include her parents and three grandparents.

Instead of flowers, donations can be sent to The Funds for Little Babies at the Methodist Health Foundation, in care of Deb Ward, Room A3105, 1701 N. Cenate Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46202.