Skydiving Grandma Dies Days After Historic Jump

Dorothy Hoffner of Chicago made history on Oct. 1 as the oldest person ever to go skydiving. The 104-year-old beat a previous record set by a 103-year-old Swedish woman last year and is set to have her historic achievement recognized by Guinness World Records. But just a week after she jumped right into the history books, Hoffner died with an unforgettable achievement to her name. 

Hoffner’s friend Joe Conant told The Associated Press she was found dead the morning of Oct. 9 at her senior living community. During her life, she insisted Conant, a nurse and caregiver for others at the facility, call her Grandma, and he told the AP she never showed any signs of deterioration even at the end of her life. 

“She was indefatigable. She just kept going,” he said. “She was not someone who would take naps in the afternoon, or not show up for any function, dinner, or anything else. She was always there, fully present. She kept going, always.”

Skydiving to set a world record wasn’t Hoffner’s goal from the beginning. She genuinely enjoyed her first time doing it when she was 100 and simply wanted to do it again. Her tandem skydive from 13,500 feet at 104 marks a new world record, and Conant is firming up the paperwork to ensure that Guinness World Records posthumously certifies her jump, though it may take some time for it to be finalized. 

Let Hoffner’s final days be a lesson to never take any day for granted. As she told a cheering crowd after she landed: “Age is just a number.”