Woman, 104, passes away a few days after attempting to set the record for the oldest skydiver
Dorothy Hoffner passed away on Sunday night while sleeping, and personnel at a senior care facility discovered her body on Monday morning.
Dorothy Hoffner, a 104-year-old Chicago resident who just made a skydiving that may have qualified her as the oldest person to ever leap out of an airplane in Guinness World Records, has passed away.
Joe Conant, a close friend of Hoffner’s, claimed that Brookdale Lake View personnel discovered her body early on Monday. Conant reported that Hoffner reportedly passed on Sunday night while sleeping.
Conant, a nurse, claimed that he first met Hoffner several years ago while serving as a caretaker for another resident at the senior living facility. He referred to her as Grandma at her request. He praised her for having incredible energy and staying intellectually alert.
She was unstoppable. She simply continued, he said on Tuesday. She was not the type of person to take afternoon naps or skip out on events like dinners or functions. She was constantly present and available. She never stopped working.
Hoffner completed a tandem skydive on October 1 that might make her the oldest skydiver in history. 85 miles (140 kilometers) southwest of Chicago, at Skydive Chicago in Ottawa, Illinois, she made a parachute leap from a plane at a height of 13,500 feet (4,100 meters).
Moments after landing, Hoffner informed the adoring throng, “Age is just a number.” She had already jumped out of an airplane once, when she was a spry 100 years old. The video below shows her performing the unbelievable:
Conant said it would take some time but he was working through the process to get Hoffner officially recognized as the oldest skydiver in the world by Guinness World Records after his death. Linnéa Ingegärd Larsson of Sweden, who is 103 years old, set the previous record in May 2022.
Hoffner didn’t skydive to set a record, according to Conant. He claimed she had enjoyed her initial jump so much that she was compelled to do it again.
She wasn’t planning to shatter the record. She was also not interested in fame or anything else. She was just doing it because she wanted to go skydiving, he claimed.
In a joint statement released on Tuesday, Skydive Chicago and the United States Parachute Association praised Hoffner.
“We are incredibly grieved by Dorothy’s demise and grateful that we were able to help her achieve her world-record skydiving.
Many of us can confidently cross skydiving off our bucket lists. But Dorothy reassures us that it’s never too late to experience a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. We will always be grateful that she experienced skydiving as part of her wonderful, full life, they added.
Conant said that Hoffner retired 43 years ago after more than 40 years of service as a telephone operator with Illinois Bell, which eventually changed its name to AT&T. Conant claimed that the longtime Chicagoan never wed and had no close relatives.
You know, age is just a number, she said. Her first dive as a centenarian occurred when she was 100 years old, and this was her second.
In a joint statement, Skydive Chicago and the United States Parachute Association expressed their “deep sadness” over Hoffner’s demise.
The statement added, in part, “We are forever grateful that skydiving was a part of her exciting, well-lived life.” Because of how much attention the world paid to her motivational tale, “her legacy is even more remarkable.”
Early November will see a memorial service for Hoffner.
Conant remarked, “She was a great friend who was an inspiration.