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.”
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.
Would there be a concern that the elderly might be pushed into potentially hazardous (due to their age/health) activities in attempts to make records? Guinness already refuses records that are dangerous. I could easily see the YouTube generation trying to talk grandma into some record attempts that wind up with her stroking out or breaking a hip. If I were Guinness I’d have some concerns about how to present stuff like this.
Hey, who needs social security when you have natural selection XD
I could see the YouTube generation dressing up as grandma themselves for that sweet clout.
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?”