As the small plane flew her high above Michigan City Municipal Airport, the 90-year-old retired teacher and life-long adventurer was moments away from crossing one last thing off her bucket list — skydiving.
“People were asking, ‘Are you sure you want to go?’” she recalled. “I’ve been on planes before. … What’s one more airplane?”
Strapped behind Kniffin, tandem skydiving instructor Tom Newman reached forward and tapped the altimeter around her wrist. It was go time.
“I can’t believe it’s happening,” said Jenna Barghahn, resident activities director for Greenleaf Health Campus in Elkhart, where Kniffen is a resident. Nearby, Kniffen’s family and campus caretakers scanned the clear blue sky for the plane. A handheld radio suddenly crackled.
Kniffin had jumped.
Kniffin’s family moved her from Canton, PA to Elkhart in 2014 to help take care of her. Her brother, Seth Kniffin, and niece, Jacquie Farr, live in Granger. Another niece, Lynne Williams, lives in Elkhart. After looking at local retirement communities, they chose Greenleaf Health Campus in Elkhart. It never occurred to Farr that less than a year later, the staff at Greenleaf would be taking her aunt skydiving.
The idea started during a “Manicure Monday” in early March. Residents and staff were gathered in the lobby as shades of nail polish were spread out across a table. “We were gossiping and it just came up,” Barghahn said. “Kniff said she wanted to go for her birthday and we started planning.”
The campus is owned by Trilogy Health Services in Louisville, Ky., which runs a program called Live A Dream. The program, started in 2012, encourages health campus leaders to “identify and grant the wishes of our residents on a regular basis,” according to its website.
While Barghahn had submitted requests before, skydiving was a first. “We rented a limo for a lady’s 100th birthday, we took a group to a Notre Dame women’s basketball game. … Kniff’s was going to be the biggest one we’ve ever done,” she said.
“I was a little shocked when I found out she wanted to jump,” said Farr, an experienced skydiver herself. Her shock soon turned to excitement, and over the next month she worked with Barghahn to get the rest of the family on board.
After getting approval from her executive director, Barghahn submitted a request to Live A Dream, crossed her fingers and waited. By late April the corporate office had given its approval.
“It’s the first time I think our company has done a skydive,” Barghahn said. “It’s a big deal.”
Skydive Windy City, formerly Plymouth Sky Sports, worked with Greanleaf to make Kniffin’s dream come true. When she was medically cleared, the date was set for May 12 — Kniffin’s 90th birthday.
Weather put a damper on that plan. At 8 that morning, Barghahn got a call from Troy Church, general manager at Skydive Windy City. Winds weren’t favorable. The jump was canceled.
The dream would be rescheduled and then canceled again five weeks later because of cloud cover. “It’s frustrating, but we just need a window, just one window,” Farr said.
Church rescheduled the jump again the following week at Michigan City Municipal Airport.
On June 23, a little after 2 p.m. on a clear sunny day, Kniffin jumped out of a plane.
“Oh my God, I see her,” Farr yelled. A brightly colored parachute of blue, yellow and red appeared overhead and cheers erupted from the small crowd. Seth Kniffin laughed as he watched his big sister come floating back down to earth. “I just can’t believe it,” he said.
Surrounded by parachute cords on solid ground, Edna Kniffin grinned as she was peppered with questions.
“It was … it was beautiful,” Kniffin said.
“You want to go again?” asked nephew-in-law Neil Farr.
“Oh my God … never again,” she answered.
“I’m glad I did it … but once is enough.”
(Miss Kniffin, a Canton High School graduate, taught at Canton Elementary School until her retirement. She continued to live in Canton until 2014 when she moved to Elkhart, Indiana to be closer to her family. This article was reprinted with permission from the Elkhart, Indiana Truth. The Independent-Sentinel is deeply grateful to the Truth and Ms. Welliver for kindly sharing their article with us)