Betty Reid Soskin, oldest National Park Service ranger, dies at 104
Betty Reid Soskin, the oldest serving National Park Service ranger in the country, has died at 104 years old.
A Facebook post from her family announced her passing on Sunday.
"This morning on the Winter Solstice, our mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, Betty Reid Soskin, passed away peacefully at her home in Richmond, CA at 104 years old. She was attended by family. She led a fully packed life and was ready to leave," the post read, in part. "Thank you all for your love and respect for Betty!"
The National Park Service also honored Soskin in a social media post.
“Thank you for your service, Ranger Betty,” the agency posted on X.
“Soskin made significant contributions to the development of @RosieRiveterNPS. She was a powerful voice for sharing personal experiences, highlighting untold stories, & honoring the contributions of women from diverse backgrounds who worked on the WWII Home Front,” the post added.
Born on Sept. 22, 1921, in Detroit and raised in New Orleans before her family moved to California, Soskin joined the National Park Service in 2007 as a docent at the Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Park Museum in Richmond, Calif., which highlights the contributions of women during the war.
Soskin told ABC News San Francisco station KGO in 2021 that she didn't know the secret to her longevity.
"I wish I knew. I'm not sure that there is a secret," Soskin said. "I think it's all just, one foot at a time. One foot in front of the other. I don't think any one of us really understands what it's about."
“I think it’s important we all follow our passions. We all need passions,” Soskin also told ABC News.
Soskin retired in 2022 at age 100. Among those who sang Soskin's praises upon her retirement was former President Barack Obama, whom she introduced in 2015 at the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony, in which she took part at age 94. Obama posted a photo on X of the pair embracing at the event in acknowledging her retirement.
“Betty, I hope you realize just how many people appreciate everything you’ve done – myself included,” Obama wrote.
Meeting the nation's only Black president, Soskin told ABC News, was one of the highlights of her life.
"Standing with Obama on the stage in Washington, D.C., in the shadow of the White House, that was built by slaves – the whole meaning of that has really captured me," Soskin said.
Soskin also previously served as a Berkeley city council member, and was named Woman of the Year by the California State Legislature in 1995, according to the National Park Service.
She also worked a variety of other jobs during her long life.
“During World War II, Betty worked as a file clerk in the segregated Union hall of Boilermaker’s A-36. In 1945, she and her husband, Mel Reid, founded one of the first Black-owned music stores, Reid’s Records, which operated until its closure in 2019,” according to the National Park Service, which even created a special Ranger Betty parks passport stamp for Soskin in 2021 in honor of her 100th birthday.
In lieu of flowers, the family's Facebook message asked that donations be sent to the Betty Reid Soskin Middle School in El Sobrante, Calif., or to support completion of a film about her, titled "Sign My Name to Freedom."
