Record holder Chicago centenarian, Dorothy Hoffner, died yesterday after setting the Guinness World Record for the oldest skydiver in history less than a week ago.
The 104-year-old broke the Guinness World Record for the oldest tandem parachute jump set in 2022 by 103-year-old Linnéa Ingegärd Larsson in Sweden.
Hoffner’s good friend Joe Conant tells the Chicago Tribune that she died peacefully in her sleep and her death came unexpectedly.
‘She was just tireless. She just kept going,” Conant said.
Dorothy Hoffner became the oldest person ever to skydive after jumping from an airplane at 13,500 feet in northern Illinois. She died in her sleep on October 9.
He described Hoffner, whom he called ‘granny’, as someone who had not aged at all, barely slept or canceled plans in the past decade.
“It was quite a shock,” he said of her death. ‘She gave an incredible amount of her spirit and life to all of us, and it inspired us all.’
Joe Conant met Hoffner five years ago when he worked as a caregiver for another resident at Brookdale Senior Living, where she also lived.
A spokesperson for Hoffner told the Chicago Sun-Times they were honored the skydiving experience from October 1 could serve as an incredible cap to her ‘exciting, well-lived life’.
“Age is just a number,” Hoffner told a cheering crowd after touching down Sunday at Skydive Chicago in Ottawa, about 85 miles southwest of Chicago. Chicago Tribune reported.
Hoffner took her first skydiving four years ago after turning 100 simply because “it sounded interesting,” she told Conant, who joined her in both that initial jump and the recent one Sunday.
“The whole thing was lovely, wonderful, couldn’t have been better,” she said after landing.
Hoffner’s jump was originally scheduled for early September, but was delayed three times due to bad weather.
She left her walker just short of the plane – a white Skyvan – and was helped up the stairs by two guides to join the others waiting inside.
Once her jump is certified, she will likely break the Guinness World Record for oldest skydiver
Hoffner, relieved to be back on the ground, said her skydiving record made her feel ‘old’
On Sunday, she left her walker just short of the plane – a white Skyvan – and was helped up the stairs by two guides to join the others waiting inside.
“Let’s go, let’s go, Geronimo!” she said after getting on the plane and sitting down.
She was the only passenger not wearing earplugs as the plane took off quickly. With a confident smile, she insisted on taking the lead as the back door opened for the jump.
She said she had to be pushed off the plane four years ago, but ‘wanted to take control this time’.
Finally, she jumped from 13,500 feet into the air and immersed herself in the face of river currents and patches of greenery before making her historic landing.
The dive lasted seven minutes. Coming into land, the wind pushed back Hoffner’s white hair as she clung to the harness over her narrow shoulders, lifted her legs and plodded gently onto the grassy landing area.
Friends rushed to Hoffner to share their congratulations when someone brought her red walker.
When a reporter asked her how it felt to be back on the ground, Hoffner said, “wonderful, but it was wonderful up there.”
Skydive Chicago is working to have Guinness World Records certify Hoffner’s jump as a record, WLS-TV reported, but she didn’t seem too concerned about it.
When asked how it felt to hold the age-based record, she quickly replied: “As I am old.”
Her thoughts turned to the future and other challenges. Set to turn 105 in December, Hoffner said she might ride a hot air balloon next.
“I’ve never been in one of those,” she said.
She said she had to be pushed off a plane four years ago but ‘wanted to take control this time’
She took her first skydive four years ago after turning a century simply because ‘it sounded interesting’
Born in 1918 after World War I, Hoffner survived both the Spanish flu and the Covid pandemic. She spent her entire life in Chicago.
Growing up poor and unable to afford college, she worked as an operator for Illinois Bell, a telephone company that later became part of AT&T.
She never married or had a child. Hoffner described herself as “an unclaimed treasure” and said she never had to deal with the responsibility of children.
She told the Chicago Tribune: ‘Or the pettiness and the rubbish of a man. I never had to take care of anyone but me.’
It gave her life more freedom and chances for beautiful adventure, she said during an interview the New York Times.
She enjoyed weekend trips around the country to drive her blue Dodge Coronet; bus rides with friends to beach town in Mexico; and boat trips on the Danube River in Germany.
She also traveled twice to England, Panama, Italy and France.
Hoffner encouraged everyone to try skydiving because it’s “surprisingly affordable and so peaceful.”
She also advised those who want to try: ‘If you come down, make sure you have someone with you. That’s the important thing.’ She planned to go on a hot air balloon trip after her skydiving success.
Funeral arrangements are set for early November and the family has not yet released an obituary for her.