90-year-old skydives in Buckeye for her birthday

For her 90th birthday, Marg Burg decided to fulfill one of her lifelong dreams.

Burg, whose birthday is July 20, had her family fly in from Nashville for the occasion. But instead of a regular birthday party, she went skydiving.

Four generations were present as Burg went skydiving Thursday morning at Skydive Buckeye: she was accompanied by her daughter, granddaughter and great-granddaughter, although Burg was the only one who jumped from the aircraft.

Ahead of the dive, Burg said she wasn't nervous at all.

"There's a big difference between nervous and excited," Burg said.

Burg said she took inspiration from former President George H.W. Bush, who celebrated his 90th birthday by skydiving in 2014. She said it's been a lifelong dream of hers, since it's adventurous and daring. Other than skydiving, Burg said she hasn't been much of a daredevil.

Burg currently lives at the Heritage Tradition, a senior living facility in Sun City West. Originally from Indiana, Burg moved to Arizona in 1995 to be closer to her son and his family. Before that, she lived in Philadelphia.

Her husband, Jack, died in 2019 after 64 years of marriage. The pair had four children together, with the family expanding to now include six grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

Burg has always been into music, said her daughter Brenda Omahen. Burg plays all sorts of instruments but is an especially great pianist. She also enjoyed playing the organ, was an adult choir director and was even in a band at her church up until a few years ago.

Omahen and her daughter, Jeanette Mosier, described Burg as someone who is fun-loving, joyous and always has a smile on her face. She was an inspiration to Omahen growing up.

“She was a good role model for me to be a mom. And that was always what I wanted to do, was just be a good mom,” Omahen said.

Burg takes the leap

Burg still didn’t get nervous when she was in the airplane. ready to take the leap.

“I can’t believe it yet. I’m still not nervous,” Burg said after landing safely on the ground.

While Burg said she needs to wait a bit before going skydiving again, she said she absolutely would do it for her next birthday. Overall, Burg said she’s happy she finally went skydiving and that everything went perfectly.

Harrison Martin, an instructor and videographer, has been working at Skydive Buckeye for about two years. While he’s seen a couple people go skydiving for the 82^nd and 84^th birthday, he hasn’t helped anyone skydive for their 90^th birthday.

While Martin said he’s seen plenty of people bow out of skydiving at the last minute and land with the plane, that wasn’t the case with Burg. She didn’t need a countdown or any help exiting the plane.

“She did fantastic. She’s a natural flier,” Martin said.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 90-year-old skydives in Buckeye for her birthday