In what’s being called a “freak accident,” actress Molly Glynn has died after a tree toppled by a powerful storm struck her as she rode her bike in a forest park.

The 46-year-old Glynn had a recurring role as an emergency-room doctor on “Chicago Fire,” and was an accomplished theater actress in the Chicago area.

She was with her husband, Joe Foust, on the North Branch Trail in Erickson Woods just north of Chicago when the storm rolled quickly into the area, the executive director of First Folio Theatre and a close family friend, David Rice, told the Associated Press.

“Molly was one of the most loving and generous people in the Chicago theater scene,” he said. “She was incredibly talented – incredibly versatile. She could handle both comedy and the deepest darkest, dramas.”

Glynn’s husband phoned 9-1-1 Friday afternoon to say his wife had been injured, and NorthShore Evanston Hospital spokeswoman Colette Urban confirmed Glynn died Saturday.

“I couldn’t save her. I couldn’t save her. She’s gone,” Foust, who is also an actor, wrote on his Facebook page.

The AP reports Glynn had an audition earlier in the day Friday, and she and her husband had decided to go for a ride.

Rice said the harsh weather caught them by surprise and the tree slammed into Glynn as the couple sought shelter from the storm.

“It was a freak accident and a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he said.

The theater community in the Chicago area is expressing shock at the incident.

“It is an incalculable loss,” Michael Halberstam, artistic director of the Glencoe-based Writers Theatre, told CBS. “Molly was a marvelous actress and a completely warm hearted and generous human being. She had grace, sophistication and a sparkling, sexy, sassy stage presence. She could transform from a princess to a flower girl in the twinkling of an eye. She was a loving mother and wife and everyone who met her fell in love with her.”

Glynn grew up in Hartford, Connecticut, and had two teenage sons.

Foust says her organs are being donated to help others, and he may do something with what remains of their two bikes.

“Molly’s bike is as broken as she was,” he said on Facebook. “I need to see it again and mourn. I may use parts of it to make a tribute statue for Molly Glynn and ask to put it near the spot. I am going to combine parts of it with my bike to make a new bike to ride in her honor. To remember. I need to own this, and not let it own me.”

Foust also said a memorial fund has been set up to help the grieving family and support their two children.

“Friends of mine put this together and I have been amazed at the generosity. I really couldn’t see how I could go forward, and this helped ease the burden. We always got by, by the seat of our pants. I had less than 70 bucks in the bank. No idea how to pay what would double all my bills. So grateful for the assistance.”

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