Dorothy Hoffner, 104, dies week after setting skydiving world record

Adam Schrader
·2 min read
1
UPI
Dorothy Hoffner, 104, has died a week after she took a tandem jump in Ottawa, Ill., breaking the record set by 103-year-old Swedish skydiver Ruth Larsson in 2022. Photo courtesy of Skydive Chicago/Facebook

Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Dorothy Hoffner, who set the world record last week to become the oldest person to skydive from an airplane, has died. She was 104.

Hoffner took a tandem jump on Oct. 2 from above Ottawa, Ill., and parachuted to the ground to break a record set by 103-year-old Swedish skydiver Ruth Larsson in 2022.

Her death was confirmed by her close friend Joe Conant to the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times.

Conant said she died peacefully in her sleep Monday, though unexpectedly. Still, her friends do not believe there was a connection between her death and that feat.

"She was just indefatigable. She just kept going," Conant told the Tribune.

Conant told the Sun-Times he met Hoffner five years ago when he was working as a caregiver for another resident at a senior living home and was invited to have lunch with her.

"Those that were a little bit older she would call her children... and those that were my age... she would call us her grandchildren," Conant said.

"She said she loved having children and grandchildren because she did not have any in life, so now she has them. She has people she can call children and grandchildren."

Four years ago, over dinner, Conant told Hoffner he planned to go skydiving. She jumped for the first time to celebrate her 100th birthday.

"She enthusiastically said, 'I want to go,' and I thought she meant she just wanted to come and watch," Conant said. "I explained to her what it all entails, and she said, 'Yeah, that sounds great. I want to try it.'"

Last week, after landing from her 13,500-foot fall, Hoffner told reporters: "Age is only a number."

The day after her record-breaking jump, Hoffner was visited by relatives who were unaware she had skydived again. She handed them a copy of the Chicago Tribune with her photo on the cover.

"Dorothy, you never told us you went skydiving!" her family said, according to Conant. "Well, you never asked!" she responded.

Conant said her funeral arrangements are expected for early November.

"Skydiving is an activity that many of us safely tuck away in our bucket lists," said a spokesperson for Skydive Chicago & U.S. Parachute Association. "But Dorothy reminds us that it's never too late to take the thrill of a lifetime."