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.
Betty Reid Soskin, 100, was celebrated on her retirement as the nationÕs oldest active park ranger, Saturday, April 16, 2022, at Craneway Pavilion in Richmond, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) With her unofficial fan club surrounding her, Betty Reid Soskin, 100, is celebrated on her retirement, Saturday, April 16, 2022, at Craneway Pavilion in Richmond, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) Eagle Jayogoda, 10, gives Betty Reid Soskin, 100, a handmade sign as the nation's oldest active park ranger was celebrated on her retirement, Saturday, April 16, 2022, at Craneway Pavilion in Richmond, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) RICHMOND, CALIFORNIA - April 16: Betty Reid Soskin, 100, celebrates her retirement as the nationÕs oldest active park ranger, Saturday, April 16, 2022, at Craneway Pavilion in Richmond, Calif. Soskin holds an arrowhead plaque presented to her during the ceremony by Chuck Sams, director of the National Park Service. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) EL SOBRANTE, CA - SEPTEMBER 22: 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) Betty Reid Soskin, the 94-year-old ranger who was brutally attacked inside her home two weeks ago, addresses the media during a news conference announcing her return to work at the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Homefront National Historical Park visitor center in Richmond, Calif., on Tuesday, July 12, 2016. (Kristopher Skinner/Bay Area News Group) Former "Rosie the Riveters" Betty Reid Soskin, left, 92, of Richmond, and Elinor Otto, right, 94, of Long Beach, place a wreath at the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front Historical Park in the Marina Bay Park, in Richmond, Calif., on Saturday, March, 1, 2014. The celebration was to kick off National Women's History Month. (Dan Rosenstrauch/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, the 94-year-old ranger who was brutally attacked inside her home two weeks ago, addresses the media during a news conference announcing her return to work at the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Homefront National Historical Park visitor center in Richmond, Calif., on Tuesday, July 12, 2016. (Kristopher Skinner/Bay Area News Group) Betty Reid Soskin looks over materials with Tom Leatherman, General Superintendent of the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historic Park, right, and Congressman Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11) prior to a ceremony recognizing Soskin’s lifetime of achievements in Richmond, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 7, 2016. (Kristopher Skinner/Bay Area News Group) National Park Ranger Betty Reid Soskin hangs up a call on her Apple watch 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) Congressman Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11) presents Betty Reid Soskin with a copy of the Congressional Record recognizing Soskin's lifetime of achievements during a ceremony in Richmond, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 7, 2016. (Kristopher Skinner/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) National Park Ranger Betty Reid Soskin, left, is greeted by National Park Service Superintendent Tom Leatherman, 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) National Park Ranger Betty Reid Soskin looks over the presentation she put together for the Richmond City Council that details her proposal for a memorial to eight workers who died in 1944 in a dormitory fire in Richmond, Calif., on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016. The 1944 fire near the Kaiser shipyard in Richmond claimed the lives of at least eight civilian African-American ship workers, but the tragedy was overshadowed and largely forgotten when the Port Chicago munitions disaster occurred six months later. (Dan Rosenstrauch/Bay Area News Group) National Park Ranger Betty Reid Soskin, right, 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)