Beats an old cake any day Beats an old cake any day (July 29, 2005)

Mountain View man goes skydiving to celebrate 90th birthday

By Jenny Baer

In celebration of his 90th birthday, Mountain View resident Don Pellmann took a trip to Lodi last Saturday and jumped out of a plane.

The daring diver had the support of his friends, family and even his doctor to take the July 23 jump, which included an 8,000-foot free-fall.

"I've tried almost everything in my life, from scuba diving to going down the Colorado River. I even had a pilot's license," said Pellmann on the inspiration for taking the trip. "I just hadn't jumped out of a plane."

Pellmann, who competes in the Senior Olympics on a regular basis, consulted his doctor before taking the trip to make sure that he would be at a safe level of excitement. The doctor approved of the trip, saying that it would not be a problem.

Fellow residents at Redwood Villa retirement residence anticipated the trip as well. The week before his skydiving adventure, the residence was decked out with flyers promoting the trip, posted by the activities director. On the day of his departure, his neighbors dropped toy parachute men and blew celebratory bubbles from a balcony to wish him well.

The secretary of the retirement residence, Chris Baierski, helped Pellman set up the expedition. "I used to skydive, so I knew of Lodi and how well-run it was," she said. "I set him up with their Web site and he contacted them and made arrangements, and scheduled a bus ride to take some supporters."

Twenty five friends and family members joined Pellmann on his trip, taking the bus ride together into the Central Valley.

"We had a little lunch, and then they watched me do that dumb thing," Pellmann joked, also noting that the Redwood Villa residents had taken to calling him "Crazy Don."

Regarding his decision to jump, Pellmann's trusting wife, Marge Pellmann, said with a chuckle, "Well, I just go along with him with whatever he wants to do." To exemplify her confidence in him, she added that "When we started out 50 years ago, he said he was going to build us our house, and he did it."

Pellmann said he was not afraid before the jump, since he was well aware of the procedure. However, he admitted to being startled during the initial minute-long free-fall.

"That was a little bit different than I expected," he said. "Wind blowing at 125 miles per hour in your face makes breathing difficult."

E-mail Jenny Baer at jbaer@mv-voice.com

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