By Patricia Lanzagarita
Dorothy Hoffner, the world’s oldest skydiver from Chicago, died at the age of 104 following her world-breaking skydiving record last week.
Her close friend Joe Conant told The Tribune, the local outfit of Chicago, that Hoffner’s death was unexpected as she died peacefully in her sleep last Monday.
“It came as quite a shock. She gave an incredible amount of her spirit and life to all of us, and it inspired all of us,” Conant said.
Remembered as a lifelong Chicagoan, she was raised and lived in Garfield Park for 50 years before she transferred to Brookdale Lake View where she spent her last decades.
At the age of 100, she decided to try skydiving for the first time and continued doing it after her friend, Conant, planned to do it.
According to Hoffner, an essential ingredient for her long and healthy life was that she never had any husbands or children, and the other one is God, which she described as an ‘unclaimed treasure.’
The skydiver also encourages people to try and experience skydiving as she said that doing it is ‘so peaceful.’
Skydive Chicago, the skydiving facility where Hoffner claimed the world record, also expressed their sadness about the news of her passing but also honored to be a part of her last jump.
Funeral arrangements for the skydiver are expected to be held in early November.
Source: Chicago Tribune (https://bit.ly/3QcbZLe)
(ai/mnm)