John Vanvechten with Mark Shoemaker, Eugene Skydivers owner. SCOTT OLSON/THE CRESWELL CHRONICLE
Last Friday John Van Vanvechten of Eugene celebrated his 94th birthday last Friday, June 15 by skydiving with Mark Shoemaker, owner of Eugene Sky Divers in Creswell. For Vanechten skydiving is something he had never done before and was something that had been on his bucket list for a long time. Vanvechtan, who moved to Eugene in 1991, said that he wasn’t nervous at all prior to the jump. He served in the United States Navy for 20 years, including serving in the Pacific during WWII. Following the sky jump, Vanvechten said, ”What a blast!” Showmaker asked him what he was going to do on his next birthday, Vanvechten said, ”I’m going to have to think about it.”