Dorothy Hoffner is known far beyond Chicago because she is a record-breaker. She jumped from a height of 13,500ft with a parachute at the age of 100 and 104. Thus, the woman became the oldest skydiver in the world. Unfortunately, she passed away a few days before a special commission of the Guinness World Records was supposed to come and register her record. Learn more at ichicago.net.
Worry-free life
Dorothy was born in Chicago on December 17, 1918. The girl’s childhood was difficult. The family lived very poorly, so the parents couldn’t afford to give their daughter a higher education. After school, the girl got a job as an operator in a local company. Soon, she was invited to the Illinois Bell telephone company. She worked there for 43 years and at the age of 60, she took a well-deserved rest. The woman always recalled her work with warmth and admitted that she liked it very much.
Miss Hoffner had never been married and had no children. During her life, she called herself an “unclaimed treasure” and admitted in an interview that she never had problems in her personal life. After all, she didn’t have to worry about the pettiness or untidiness of her husband or to take responsibility for the children.
The woman also had no close relatives, except for the named grandson, nurse Joe Conant, whom she met in 2018. Dorothy often invited him to dinner and stayed up until midnight to wait for him off duty and talk.
Until the age of 50, Hoffner lived in her parents’ house. Then she moved to another Chicago area and spent her last decade in a retirement home. According to the staff, the woman was tireless and clearly not the one who sleeps at noon or misses any event.
Secret of longevity
Her secret was the absence of any diets. The woman was very fond of Chinese, Italian, and Jewish cuisine. In addition, she drank a little wine every day and cream liqueur several times a week. In her youth, she went swimming and rode a bicycle and in her elderly age, she walked in the park or near the lake. At the age of 20, Hoffner took piloting lessons and became interested in traveling.
During her life, she visited all the states of the USA and visited Panama, Vienna and Bucharest.
The record holder had never had any health problems. However, in her elderly age, Miss Hoffner underwent surgery to remove a cancerous breast tumor, but no further treatment was required. After that, Dorothy’s vision worsened and she couldn’t drive a car.
At the age of 100, Dorothy made her first parachute jump in Chicago. On October 1, 2023, she repeated it and became the oldest skydiver in the world. The achievement of the American woman was a real sensation. Photos and videos of Dorothy Hoffner spread all over the world. Instructors helped her at all stages of the jump, as the woman moved with the help of a walker.
Dorothy said that she didn’t see anything special in her act and she really liked this experience. Miss Hoffner didn’t chase for achievement at all, but fulfilled her dream and wanted to fly in a hot air balloon soon. However, it didn’t happen, as the Chicago record holder passed away in her sleep on October 9, 2023.
Interesting facts
- At the time of her death, the woman had set the world record for skydiving, surpassing Ruth Linnéa Ingegärd Larsson of Sweden, who jumped in 2022 at the age of 103.
- Dorothy loved dogs.
- She always quoted the biblical commandment “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”. She often applied this phrase to neighbors whom she didn’t like very much.
From all of the above, we can conclude that Dorothy Hoffner loved life and wasn’t afraid of any obstacles. Thanks to her fearlessness, she proved to the whole world that age is just a number.