Paul Neely turned 99 this week, and instead of cake and candles, the Harrisburg man marked the occasion by jumping out of an airplane. It was his ninth skydive, and based on what his family is saying, it probably won't be his last.
Neely took to the skies Tuesday to celebrate the milestone birthday, according to WGAL. He's a Susquehanna Valley native originally from Perry County, the station reports, a detail that places his roots firmly in the central Pennsylvania communities that have followed his unusual birthday tradition. As WTAE also covered, the jump drew attention well beyond Harrisburg for a man closing in on triple digits still willing to leap from a plane for fun.
Neely's granddaughter shared videos of the event, the same WGAL report notes, and she said she doesn't think her grandfather is ready to hang up his parachute anytime soon. For a man already nine jumps deep into a skydiving habit, that tracks.
Where Neely Stacks Up Against the Record Books
Neely's jump doesn't come close to the outer limits of what's been done in the sport. Guinness World Records recognizes Alfred “Al” Blaschke of Texas as the world's oldest person to complete a tandem skydive, a title he reclaimed at age 106 years and 327 days, according to Guinness World Records. Blaschke first broke the record in 2020 at age 103, per the same organization, before briefly losing it.
That record briefly belonged to Rut Linnéa Ingegärd Larsson, who held it in 2022 at age 103 years and 259 days, Guinness notes. Blaschke's record-reclaiming jump took place on November 27, 2023, at an altitude of 9,000 feet, and it was reportedly just his third skydive, with his first having come on his 100th birthday three years earlier.
Neely Joins a Growing Club of Senior Skydivers
Neely isn't alone among older Americans choosing freefall over a quiet birthday. A Roseville woman celebrated her 100th birthday in August by continuing a skydiving tradition that began two decades earlier, according to a report from KCRA. Whatever draws people back to the sport in their later years, Neely's family suggests he isn't finished exploring it himself.
