Dorothy Hoffner: Chicago woman who set world record as the oldest tandem skydiver dies at 104
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Dorothy Hoffner, a 104-year-old woman from Chicago, who set the world record as the oldest person to parachute from a plane, died on Monday evening, October 9, a week after the 'free fall'.
Joe Conant, a close friend, told Chicago Tribune that she died peacefully in her sleep. The death, as per her friend who called her "grandma," was unexpected, the report said.
Dorothy Hoffner created a record by skydiving at 104
Hoffner jumped from a plane at Skydiving Airport in Ottawa, Illinois, saying, “There was nothing scary about it.”
Soon after landing from the 13,500-foot fall, she grabbed her walker and cheered, “Age is only a number, ya’ know?” she told reporters gathered to cover the event, as per the outlet.
She broke the Guinness World Record for the oldest tandem parachute jump set in 2022 by a 103-year-old in Sweden.
Dorothy Hoffener didn't care for the record which she termed 'ridiculous'
Hoffner, however, wasn't there to break records which she, as per the Chicago Sun Tribune, termed as "ridiculous."
“What has age got to do with what you’re doing?” Hoffner told the Sun-Times, a day after the jump. “I’m 104 years old, so what?,” she said.
She even reportedly told the press that she might ask a 109-year-old who lived in the neighborhood to join her for the next jump.
“You cannot say Dorothy didn’t live life to the fullest!” her team said, as per Chicago Sun-Times.
“She wasn’t doing it because of the world record. She was doing it because she wanted to go skydiving,” Conant said.
Dorothy Hoffner 'just kept going'
Conant said Dorothy Hoffner "was just indefatigable. She just kept going."
He remembered Hoffner, a lifelong Chicagoan, for her lively spark and eagerness to talk with other people. She was witty and with it in her old age, he said.
“It came as quite a shock,” he said of her death, adding “She gave an incredible amount of her spirit and life to all of us, and it inspired all of us.”
Dorothy, who had no smartphone, would not have known how far her story had reached and how many people she inspired.
According to the report, Hoffner would get five interview calls per day following the jump.
The centenarian became the subject of a New York Times article and earned fame which transcended boundaries. She had desired to hop on a hot-air balloon next.
Her funeral arrangements are expected in early November, Conant said.