SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - At a south Springfield retirement community, a late morning ritual gets the blood flowing.
But for 96-year-old Peggy Wolf, the competitive game of BINGO is a bit of a let down from the week she’s had.
“I’ve never had so much attention since I’ve been 90 years old,” Wolf said, “and this 96th birthday has been fantastic.”
A few years shy of a century and many at Fremont Senior Living think Peggy is sensational.
“She’s the kind of person we all want to be when we grow up,” friend Marty Close said.
To celebrate Peggy’s birthday, 20 senior residents got on a bus for a field trip to Miller. Everyone excited to watch Peggy at the Ozarks Skydive Center.
The great-grandmother was ready to jump out of a perfectly fine airplane... Again. You see Peggy is a bit of a veteran daredevil. She skydived at the age of 92 and 93. At 94 she went to Niagara Falls to zip line. And for 95, well, we know what happened last year... COVID-19.
“The plan was jumping again,” Lamb said. “But of course I didn’t. We were all just sitting right here together.”
But Peggy didn’t want to miss out this summer.
“I’ve wanted to do this all my life,” Wolf said. “I was raised close to an airport.
“On a clear day, you can see the curvature of the earth; now that surprised me. Otherwise, you see these little ants climbing around, and you know, their cars.”
It looks peaceful, and despite a soft landing, Peggy says it was otherwise.
“I lost my earplugs in the air. It took a whole day to get my hearing even back to what’s normal for me.”
Peggy’s free fall carried more weight thanks to her fellow residents there supporting her.
“And so I just saw that I was surrounded by love family. Everybody was happy for me. And having them there meant everything because it wouldn’t have been nearly as exciting otherwise.”
The stories will live on for another year, before Peggy is back on another adventure.
“And, you know,” Close said, “she is such an inspiration to people.”
“I’m gonna do it,” Christy Kay, the executive director of Wolf’s center said. “I’m gonna jump out of a plane.”
“All because of her,” Chad Plein said.
“All because of Peggy, yes,” Kay responded.
“God has been good to me that I’ve had a wonderful life,” Wolf said, “and I’m living a wonderful life.”
Peggy said she waited until her 90s to start skydiving because she no longer had any responsibilities. She was always thinking of her family first.
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