‘Beloved’ teacher, a veteran, dies on rugged Maryland hiking trail, family says

A “beloved” Virginia teacher died while hiking a rugged trail in Maryland, officials and family say.

Todd Funkhouser, 53, died along Billy Goat Trail at Great Falls on Oct. 13, according to his obituary. Though a West Virginia resident, Funkhouser taught elementary PE for Loudoun County Public Schools in Virginia and “always said how lucky he felt to work with ‘his’ kids.”

Rescue crews responded to Billy Goat Trail for a hiker who fell while traversing section A of the trail, the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service said in a news release on X. Video shows boat crews were deployed in order to reach the man.

The challenging 1.7-mile hike generally takes about two hours to complete and “involves scrambling over angled rocks, boulders and climbing,” according to the National Park Service. “Visitors in less than optimal health, visitors with small children, and visitors not experienced or properly outfitted should consider other trail options.”

“There are over 400 emergency rescues each year on the Billy Goat Trail,” NPS added.

But Funkhouser was no stranger to the trail, as it was “one of his absolute favorite places,” his sister wrote in a Facebook post.

Funkhouser suffered a “cardiac event,” she wrote. “Some good Samaritans saw his collapse and immediately called 911, and paramedics did their best to save him, but the terrain prevented them from reaching him in time.”

It’s unclear which came first, the fall or the cardiac event, and McClatchy News has reached out to officials for more information.

Witnesses told officials they saw Funkhouser “attempt to leap between rocks along a particularly difficult section,” WFMD reported.

Funkhouser was “a cherished member of the LCPS family, having taught in various schools for the last 30 years,” district spokesperson Dan Adams said, LoudounNow.com reported. “He was a beloved member of Sugarland Elementary School where he was the Physical Education teacher. We share in his family’s grief and are supporting them as they navigate this difficult time.”

Aside from teaching, he was a veteran who served in Iraq with the Virginia National Guard, his obituary read.

“He was joyful, thoughtful, and deeply beloved by all who got to know him through the various aspects of his life, and he was probably the funniest person most of us knew,” it read.

Great Falls is a roughly 15-mile drive northwest from Washington, D.C.

This story was originally published October 19, 2025 at 2:02 PM with the headline "‘Beloved’ teacher, a veteran, dies on rugged Maryland hiking trail, family says."