Hillary married Louise Mary Rose on 3 September 1953 , soon after the ascent of Everest ; he admitted he was terrified of proposing to her and relied on her mother to propose on his behalf . They had three children : Peter ( born 1954 ) , Sarah ( born 1955 ) and Belinda ( 19591975 ) . In 1975 while en route to join Hillary in the village of Phaphlu , where he was helping to build a hospital , Louise and Belinda were killed in a plane crash near Kathmandu airport shortly after take-off . In 1989 he married June Mulgrew , the widow of his close friend Peter Mulgrew , who died on Air New Zealand Flight 901 in 1979
Air New Zealand Flight 901
Air New Zealand Flight 901
Edmund Hillary