Lindy Pond doesn’t just live life—she charges through it with confidence and grace. She never set out to blaze trails, but she can’t help herself. Saying “yes” to new experiences comes naturally—even when the path is steep, or the leap is 13,000 feet.
"I'm very adventurous and a risk taker," Lindy said. "I have no idea why."
An Adventurer with Altitude
Lindy has ziplined and bungee jumped—but her most recent thrill? Jumping out of a plane.
“Skydiving is something I always wanted to do,” she said. So when she and 15 fellow Oak Trace residents visited the Chicago Skydiving Center in Rochelle—where diners watch skydivers land—she knew this was her moment.
“I saw a few people go, and I thought, ‘If I don’t try it now, I never will.’” So she signed up—and jumped.
Her boyfriend, John Rohlfing, a former TWA pilot, stayed grounded. “If I’ve got wings, I’m fine,” he said. “But I can’t make myself step out into the air.” So he cheered Lindy on from below.
Of course, even the boldest among us have their limits. “I’m afraid of water,” Lindy admitted with a grin. “I love boats—but don’t throw me overboard. The kids used to say I just don’t like getting my hair wet.”
Grit in the Face of Life’s Hardest Moments
Lindy’s boldest leap wasn’t out of a plane—it came in 1991 after the loss of her husband. At the time, she held her Master’s degree and was teaching at the College of DuPage. Her husband ran a small athletic shoe business, calling on schools, road races, and track meets during the day. This was supplemented by mail-orders and eventually operating a modest storefront in the evenings.
After his passing, Lindy was left with three children in college and no life insurance.
Faced with daunting circumstances, she made a courageous decision: she left her teaching job and took over Dick Pond Athletics. She not only kept the business alive, she grew it dramatically. Lindy opened four more stores and transformed the mail-order side into a thriving operation.
“I had no choice, but I loved it,” she says of the path she never expected to take.
What carried her through wasn’t just responsibility, it was drive. Quiet grit. The same spirit that helped her say, “yes” when most would say, “not me.”
Today, two of her daughters continue her legacy, running the business she built with heart, resilience, and determination.
Breaking Barriers from the Beginning
Lindy’s trailblazing began early. Her first job was as a fitness director at a former all-men’s club—a place where weightlifting women were anything but the norm.
“It wasn’t typical for women to do strength training back then, especially there,” she said. But Lindy didn’t let that stop her.
Her persistence opened doors. “Soon, the director asked if I’d be willing to form a women’s program,” she recalled. She did—and created space where none had existed.
Whether in fitness, business, or education, Lindy has never waited for permission to lead.
“I kind of know what I want,” she said. And she knows exactly how to go after it—with confidence, heart, and a sense of adventure that shows no signs of slowing down.
