Globe trotter: Altoona woman has set foot on all seven continents in her 93 years
- Delphine Shannon points out one of her travel destinations on a map highlighted by her son Jim Shannon. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
- Delphine Shannon looks through travel photo albums with her daughter, Claudia Pentland, and son, Jim Shannon. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
- Some of Delphine Shannon’s world travel accolades adorn a wall in her home. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
- World traveler Delphine Shannon holds a replica of a pharaoh’s throne she acquired during a trip to Egypt. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

Delphine Shannon points out one of her travel destinations on a map highlighted by her son Jim Shannon. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Delphine Shannon, 93, of Altoona counts herself among the less than 1% of the population who has traveled to the seven continents: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe and Australia.
A Pittsburgh native who moved to Altoona as a child, Shannon’s travels have taken her across the world and started when she took a trip to Israel in 1979 with a church group.
For the next 34 years, Delphine took a trip to far away places about every other year. Sometimes, she went with tour groups where she didn’t know any of the other participants. More often, she asked a relative or a friend to go with her — and paid their way.
However, her thirst for adventure started in the 1930s as a 5-year-old when the desperate times of the Great Depression prompted her mother to put her on a train to Staten Island, N.Y., where an aunt and uncle provided for her for several weeks.
“That was when I got the traveling bug,” the petite and soft-spoken auburn-haired grandmother recalled. The desire to see wonders of the world and meet people of different cultures persisted.

Delphine Shannon looks through travel photo albums with her daughter, Claudia Pentland, and son, Jim Shannon. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
“When I would walk to high school, I remember singing a song about the castles in Spain. I thought ‘One day, I want to travel.'”
At 17, she married Marine veteran Jim Shannon and moved to Detroit in 1948. In 1959, a massive layoff occurred at Cadillac Motors, where Jim worked as a security guard, so the young family returned to Altoona.
Difficult at the time, Shannon said “it was one of the best things that happened to us as time went on.” Her husband found work in the trucking industry.
Married for 50 years, the couple raised their three children, Cindy, Claudia and Jim, in Altoona. While her husband didn’t share her interest in seeing faraway lands, Shannon said he enjoyed hearing about her adventures and seeing the many photographs she’d take. As a consequence, she appears in very few photos that fill several albums. She photographed beautiful scenery, wild animals, cultural sites and other travelers.
She also picked up a few souvenirs — an intricately carved brass Egyptian pharaoh’s chair in miniature, Waterford Crystal from Ireland and a decorative, large egg from South Africa, among other items.

Some of Delphine Shannon’s world travel accolades adorn a wall in her home. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Shannon worked at a variety of jobs starting in 1960. Her 40-year career included positions as a traveling sales rep with Cork Company, A&P, factory line with Butterick, cosmetics, seamstress, optometric assistant, certified reflexologist, home care with the elderly and management positions with Nautilus at the Altoona YMCA and J.C. Penney’s.
Her earnings helped fund her fun, with assistance from short-term loans. Claudia said her mother would plan her trips two years in advance, take out a loan for the cost of a trip and pay it off shortly after she returned. This enabled her to treat a variety of family and friends to join her.
For instance, Shannon’s other daughter, Cindy, and her granddaughter, Jennifer, traveled with her on a three-week African safari.
The trip took them from northern Africa down through the southern tip and around the eastern coast. Her favorite portion was a night safari where they traveled by vehicle.
“You could see the animals and what they were doing,” Shannon said. “One night, I heard this banging and I asked our guide and she said it was rhinoceros banging its head against the cabins.”

World traveler Delphine Shannon holds a replica of a pharaoh’s throne she acquired during a trip to Egypt. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Ironically, seeing all seven continents wasn’t an accomplishment she planned. She realized her feat after putting together a wall map so she could share her stories and adventures with her grandchildren.
She’s visited Australia and New Zealand, Antarctica, Ireland, Japan, Guam and about 20 islands: the Virgin Islands, the Greek Islands and the Hawaiian Islands. Her Hawaiian trip was filled with music.
“You meet such wonderful people and they are so much like we are. You have a feeling of love and camaraderie. You get serenaded every place you went by their music,” she recalled.
Asked what she enjoyed the most about her travels, Shannon said, “It’s seeing the world and different cultures where they are much like we are, and you just love them the same. I have a love for mankind. We’re all one together in a tough world.”
A later-in-life college student, Shannon graduated at age 63. She obtained an associate degree through correspondence classes and then her bachelor’s at Penn State Altoona in 1994.
One of her other great loves is writing. Shannon has published four Christian-themed books, written poems and songs shared among family and friends. Yet she’s never written any travel-related stories or books. Asked why, she responded she had “no interest.”
Her son, Jim, explained, “She’d rather just do it than write about it. She had a lot of guts — more than I would have — going to other parts of the world by herself.”
Asked if she had any trips planned for the future, Delphine hesitated, but Claudia answered for her: “She’s 93 — I think she’s done.”
Mirror Staff Writer Patt Keith is at 814-949-7030.
The Shannon file
Name: Delphine Shannon
Age: 93
Residence: Altoona
Family: Children, Cindy Webster, Claudia Pentland and Jim Shannon; grandchildren and great-grandchildren
Education: Altoona High School, Class of 1949; bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in history, Penn State University, 1994