Iowan dies in accident at waterfall Published 06/05
An Indianola native who had just obtained her master's degree from Iowa State University was killed after slipping and being carried over a 100-foot waterfall in the state of Washington.

 

Iowan dies in accident at waterfall The 22-year-old Indianola native who worked at Pioneer Hi-Bred in Johnston is mourned by many.

By KEN FUSON
Register Staff Writer
06/05/1999

An Indianola native who had just obtained her master's degree from Iowa State
University was killed after slipping and being carried over a 100-foot waterfall in
the state of Washington.

Rebecca Lynne Goodhue, 22, was taking a photograph Thursday in a restricted area
above the scenic Nooksack River Falls, about 40 miles east of Bellingham, Wash.,
when she fell, authorities said.

Resuscitation efforts at the river failed. Dr. Gary Goldfagel, medical examiner for
Whatcom County, Wash., said Goodhue suffered fatal chest injuries.

Goldfagel said the Iowa woman and a friend had entered a fenced-off area near
the falls, despite warning signs, apparently to get a better view. "They were out of
bounds," he said. The friend was not injured.

Sgt. Larry Flynn of the Whatcom County Sheriff's Department said tourists often
believe it is safe to walk on narrow trails below the falls, where the view is
spectactular. One person dies there almost every year, he said.

"The lay of the land the way it is, it just lures you out there," he says.

Earlier this week, before she left for Washington, Goodhue and her mother, Evadne, had selected a frame for the master's degree in genetics she received last month. Goodhue's father, Darrell, is an Iowa district court judge, and the family lives on a farm east of Indianola.

"She was a very outgoing and enthusiastic person," her father said Friday. "It's just an
unmitigated tragedy."

News of the accident produced tears from Indianola, where Rebecca Goodhue
graduated from high school in 1993, to Ames, where she got her bachelor's and
master's degrees, and to Johnston, where she worked as an intern and then as a
full-time employee in the patent department at Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc.

"Rebecca was a lively and close to brilliant young lady," said Robert Bahr, her supervisor for two years. "She was extremely dependable, extremely bright and able to work through rather complex problems for someone so young in her career."

At Indianola High School, teachers comforted each other Friday as they cleaned desks for summer vacation. "This has just devastated us," said Norma Pullen, a teacher.

Teachers remembered Goodhue as a smart, bubbly young woman interested in everything from drama, where she played the lead role in the "Glass Menagerie," to the Future Farmers of America, which awarded her its American Farmer Degree.

"She was a real life force," said Indianola Mayor Jerry Kelley, a family friend who taught Goodhue in junior high. "She cared passionately about things and was a joy to be around."

Drama teacher Randy Stone recalled how Goodhue memorized a speech on the way to the district speech contest, then performed well enough to qualify for the all-state competition.

"That was the kind of kid she was," he said.

Bahr said Goodhue next planned to enroll in law school and become a patent attorney. "She had very high goals," he said.

In addition to her parents, Goodhue is survived by two brothers and a sister.   Funeral arrangements are pending.