104-year-old woman becomes world's oldest skydiver, dies a week later

• Dorothy Hoffner died just a week after setting the world record for being the oldest skydiver.
• The daredevil 104-year-old passed away in her sleep on Monday.

Centenarian Dorothy Hoffner will be laid to rest knowing she still has the honor of being the oldest person in history to complete a parachute jump.

The 104-year-old died on Monday — just a week after her record-breaking tandem jump from 13,500 feet.

According to a report in the Chicago Tribune, Hoffner died "peacefully in her sleep."

The outlet quoted her close friend Joe Conant as saying, "She was indefatigable. She just kept on going."

She smiled while parachuting

Hoffner became an online sensation after the leap on October 1, 2023. Photographs and video showed her grinning from ear to ear as she went into freefall with her instructor.

She looked ecstatic through her goggles when the pair was jerked upwards as the parachute opened.

"Age is only a number, ya know," the daredevil told news crews who were waiting for her on the ground at Skydive Chicago Airport in Ottawa, Illinois.

Hoffner beat the previous world record for the world's oldest skydiver, which was set in May 2022 by a 103-year-old from Sweden.

But Conant told the Chicago Tribune that the woman he called "grandma" was more motivated by enjoying the experience than anything else.

She didn't do it for the world record; she enjoyed sky-diving

"She wasn't doing it because of the world record," he said, adding, "She was doing it because she wanted to go sky-diving."He went on to describe Hoffner as witty and alert in her old age. He said she had a lively spark and an eagerness to connect with other people.

She certainly gave them evidence of her undaunted nature during her thrilling skydive tethered to her Parachute Association instructor.

A report in The New York Post said that she was "calm and confident" when the door of the plane opened. She took the lead and threw herself out of the aircraft first.

Footage of the jump showed the rippling effect of the G-Force on her face. But it was Hoffner's Cheshire Cat smile that got her the biggest amount of attention as the images went viral on social media.

The centenarian landed gracefully with her instructor on a patch of grass near the tarmac. She was immediately greeted by well-wishers who marveled at her energy.

The Post article said that she continued to grin widely as the supporters heaped on the praise. "The whole thing was delightful, wonderful, couldn't have been better," she told them.

Moments after she floated to the ground, she was reunited with her trademark red walker. She used the equipment to walk back to the airport hangar.

The Tribune said that Hoffner used the stunt to play a joke on her family, who had known nothing about it. The relatives visited the adrenaline junkie at her senior living center on October 2. She presented them with a copy of that day's newspaper. It had a close-up photograph of her free-falling on the front page.

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

Hoffner, who performed her first parachute jump five years ago at the age of 100, was due to celebrate her 105th birthday in December.