Nick Piantanida
1932–1966 (age 34)
balloonist/parachutist
Biography
Nick Piantanida pursued daring stratospheric balloon flights with the goal of setting new altitude records, pairing his skill as a parachutist with an engineer's eye to design custom gondolas and pressure suits.
His final ascent in 1966 ended tragically when a suit failure cost him his life, yet his courage and insistence on rigorous preparation inspired future explorers, and his family remembers him fondly at Holy Cross Cemetery.