A 104-year-old Chicago woman died days after attempting to set the world record for the oldest person to skydive from an airplane.
“Age is just a number,” Dorothy Hoffner told the Chicago Tribune after jumping out of a plane last Sunday.
Joe Conant, a close friend of Hoffner, told ABC7 that she was found dead Monday morning at Brookdale Lakeview Senior Living Community. She seemed to have died while she slept.
“She’s tireless. She just keeps going,” she said Tuesday. “She’s not someone who takes an afternoon nap or doesn’t show up to any event, dinner or anything else. She’s always there, completely engaged. She’s always moving forward, always moving forward.”
Just a week ago, Hofner became the oldest known skydiver. The Chicago Skydiving Association is working with Guinness World Records to certify Hofner’s jump record.
Linnéa Ingegärd Larsson of Sweden set the Guinness World Record in May 2022, when she was 103 years old.
The organization told USA TODAY members in a statement that it was “deeply saddened” by Hoffner’s death.
“Skydiving is an activity that many of us keep safely on our bucket list. But Dorothy reminds us that it’s never too late to enjoy the thrill of a lifetime,” the statement said.
“We will always be grateful that skydiving was a part of her exciting and wonderful life. Her legacy is even more remarkable as the world focuses on her inspiring story.”
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September. On February 30, Hoffner abandoned her walker and boarded a Skyvane plane in Ottawa, Illinois, 85 miles south of Chicago.
This was the second time she had parachuted from a plane. She went skydiving for the first time when she was 100 years old and had to be pushed out of the plane. This time, she happily led a tandem skydive from 13,500 feet.
“Come on, come on, Geronimo!” Hoffner said after sitting on the plane, according to the Tribune.
The entire dive lasted seven minutes.
When he landed, her friends flocked to her side to congratulate her, the Tribune reported.
