The oldest U.S. park ranger, Betty Reid Soskin, passed away on Sunday at 104 years old.
Reid Soskin was the nation’s oldest active park ranger when she retired in 2022 at 100 years old. She had also served more than 15 years at the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historic Park in Richmond.
She led tours at the park and museum, which honored women who worked in factories during wartime and shared her own experience as a Black woman during the conflict. She worked for the U.S. Air Force in 1942, but quit after learning “she was employed only because her superiors believed she was white,” according to a Park Service Biography.
According to a Facebook post by family members, Reid Soskin passed away at her home in Richmond surrounded by family.
“She led a fully packed life and was ready to leave,” they wrote.
They encouraged readers to honor Reid Soskin by donating to Betty Reid Soskin Middle School or supporting the completion of her film, “Sign My Name To Freedom.”
Betty Reid Soskin visits with guests and family members during a ceremony to celebrate her 100th birthday and the naming of the Betty Reid Soskin Middle School in honor of the nation’s oldest living National Park Ranger on Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021, in El Sobrante, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group) Sally Jewell, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, left, shares the spotlight with Betty Reid Soskin, Park Ranger with the National Park Service, as they have their photo made at the 72nd annual anniversary of the Port Chicago explosion at the former Naval Weapons Station in Condord, Calif., on Sunday July 17, 2016. (Susan Tripp Pollard/Bay Area News Group) Park ranger Betty Reid-Soskin, 94, right, congratulates new U.S. citizens during the city’s annual naturalization ceremony at Craneway Pavilion in Richmond, Calif., on Thursday, March 24, 2016. Deputy Director of the National Park Service Denise Ryan, several Rosie the Riveters and others participated in the ceremony as 51 people from 22 countries became U.S. citizens. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group) Park ranger Betty Reid-Soskin, 94, takes part in the city’s annual naturalization ceremony at Craneway Pavilion in Richmond, Calif., on Thursday, March 24, 2016. Reid-Soskin also spoke at the event. Deputy Director of the National Park Service Denise Ryan, several Rosie the Riveters and others participated in the ceremony as 51 people from 22 countries became U.S. citizens. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group) National Park Ranger Betty Reid Soskin, left, leaves with fellow ranger Kelli English after greeting visitors at the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, Calif., on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2020. Soskin, 98, the nation’s oldest ranger, returned to work part-time on Wednesday after suffering a stroke five months ago. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group) Betty Reid Soskin is photographed during a ceremony to celebrate her 100th birthday and the naming of the Betty Reid Soskin Middle School in honor of the nation’s oldest living National Park Ranger on Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021, in El Sobrante, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
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