Dorothy Hoffner, a 104-year-old Chicago woman whose recent skydive could see her certified by Guinness World Records as the oldest person to ever jump from a plane, has died.
Hoffner’s close friend, Joe Conant, said she was found dead Monday morning by staff at the Brookdale Lake View senior living community. Conant said Hoffner apparently died in her sleep on Sunday night.
Conant, who is a nurse, said he met Hoffner — whom he called Grandma at her request — several years ago while he was working as a caregiver for another resident at the senior living center. He said she had amazing energy and remained mentally sharp.
“She was indefatigable. She just kept going,” he said Tuesday. “She was not someone who would take naps in the afternoon, or not show up for any function, dinner or anything else. She was always there, fully present. She kept going, always.”
It sounds like Dorothy lived life on her terms, right to the end.
Respect.
Something in her was like “gotta make it to 100…”
Then she did and must’ve been thinking “well is that it? I am awfully tired all the time. Guess I am getting weaker. Oh!! I never skydived!! Okay gotta skydive, then we’re good to go 😊”
Skydives
Naps forever
Sorry, but it appears you are quite wrong.
From the article:
“She was indefatigable. She just kept going,” he said Tuesday. “She was not someone who would take naps in the afternoon, or not show up for any function, dinner or anything else. She was always there, fully present. She kept going, always.”
I think they meant she was saving up all of her naps for that real big one we all get at the end.
She’d skydived as a senior citizen many times before her latest jump, that one was just to go for the record.
Cut down in her prime
Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, Stevie Ray Vaughan, now Dorothy. We’ll never get to see what else they might have done had they not been snatched from us early by that cruel bitch fate.
Good, going out on a high note is great.
Plus the benefit that her actual death was in her sleep.
My grandma wasn’t skydiving, but she also died in her sleep, which was great. Was well the days before, then went to bed and never woke up. Much prefered to how grandpa slowly died of cancer while also having Alzheimers. That wasn’t fun for anyone. Never waking up is certainly one of the best deaths one can have.
That’s how my grandmother went out. Definitely preferable to many other ways. :( Sorry you had to go through that. Dementia of any kind is horrible.
I didn’t have to go through it directly. I was a child and my grandma didn’t let me see my grandfather in his past months. It apparently was really bad and she wanted me to keep the memory of how he was when he was well. Heck, while the older family members got to visit, she basically took over the care on her own. She shouldered this burden of him losing himself so nobody else had to and continued on another decade afterwards. She was quite the strong woman.
Kinda sad, but at the same time, I wish for this myself when being old. Dieing after having my most ambitious dreams being fulfilled, not looking back about missed opportunities or regrets.
The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the second best time is now.
Well, get on with it then
definitely hope it’s in my sleep or on a lot of opiates
She was the oldest person to skydive, there’s proof that she was the oldest person to skydive. What’s keeping them from giving her the record? Does it matter that she died? The record was already set.
I’d assume her age and stuff need to be confirmed? Tho if it with Guinness it doesn’t really matter much, their entire record system is a sham.
I, for one, would want to take a second look at a birth certificate from 1919. It might not be terribly meaningful in the grand scheme of things but Guinness takes their verification seriously and wants to be able to answer questions like “exactly how many days old was she when she jumped?” and “how did you prove that?”
Glad she ended it on a good note.
She can’t defend her record, go for it centurians!
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I wonder what’s the world record for dying after you set a world record.
The suspense was killing her.
it’s amusing that journalists still give these “world records” any amount of energy.
a serious career for serious people.
As serious as an edgy cynic on the Internet?
Nearly, but not quite
that was edgy?
i do this for free, you cant afford my day job.
What’s wrong with world records?
I guess AP usually has better things to report on, but reporting is still reporting.
It’s about the delivery, not the subject matter 😎
you can just buy them without doing anything.
they’ll sell the same “record” more than once.
I can just buy a world record for oldest skydiver even though I’m 18?
yes.
yes.
Not from Guinness, no.
yes from Guinness, it is well documented.
Really? Can you show me the document that says Guiness sold an oldest person record to someone who was clearly not the oldest?