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A centenarian from Chicago who made headlines when she was named the world's oldest tandem skydiver at 104, has died.
Dorothy Hoffner’s friend, Joe Conant, said she passed away in her sleep at home on Monday, but her cause of death is yet to be confirmed.
Joe remembers Dorothy as someone who lived a long, fruitful life.
“She was just indefatigable. She just kept going,” he says.
A little over a week ago Dorothy Hoffner plunged from a plane more than four kilometres above the ground, breaking the record held by Sweden's Rut Linnéa Ingegärd Larsson, who was 103 years old when she set the Guiness World Record in 2022.
This was Dorothy's second skydive and for her age was "just a number".
Dorothy leapt from the plane while attached to tandem jumper Derek Baxter from Skydive Chicago in Ottawa, Illinois, last Sunday. But she wasn't doing it for publicity or to break records – it was just for fun.
"I enjoyed it so much," she said, referring to her first skydive at age 100, and after everything with Covid, I just wanted to go out and do something again”.
On her first jump she was helped out the aircraft with a gentle shove, but this time she showed herself out the door.
She was all smiles after a safe landing seven minutes after jumping out of the plane.
“Wonderful”, she said, when asked how she was feeling.
“It was wonderful up there, too. The whole thing [experience] was delightful.”
Dorothy's interest in skydiving began when a friend mentioned that he was planning to try it. She said she'd never done it either, and wouldn't mind giving it a go.
"It just sounded interesting."
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That first time, she said, was “fun”.
"There's nothing frightening about it because with the parachute above you it's very smooth.
"It was amazing to see all the beautiful scenery. This wonderful land beneath you.”
Dorothy’s second jump was a special occasion for the city of Chicago.
Friends and well-wishers came out in their numbers to cheer Dorothy on before take-off and they were there to congratulate her when she returned to Earth.
Visibly astonished by the support, she thanked the assembled crowd.
“Thank you for being here. I think that’s very wonderful of you,” and added that she found the attention “a little strange” as she's unaccustomed to publicity.
Dorothy had planned to do another skydive and a ride in a hot air balloon.
“I’ve never been on one [hot air balloon],” she said.
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Skydive Chicago had applied to Guinness World Records for Dorothy to be recognised as the world's oldest skydiver.
