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Betty Reid Soskin, the oldest park ranger in the U.S., has died at age 104. Soskin, who is well-known for her efforts in activism and her talent as a songwriter, died at her home in Richmond, California on Sunday, SFGate reported.
“This morning on the Winter Solstice, our mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, Betty Reid Soskin, passed away peacefully at her home in Richmond, CA,” Soskin’s family wrote in a statement, per People. “She led a fully packed life and was ready to leave.”
The family also asked for privacy: “We understand the public nature of Betty’s life, however we ask that you please respect the family’s privacy at this time,” they wrote, per People. “There will be a public memorial at a time and place to be announced.”
Betty Reid Soskin was born in Detroit
Soskin, who was born in Detroit, later moved to Louisiana with her family. In 1927, however, the Great Mississippi Flood destroyed the home of Soskin’s family. That’s when Soskin and her loved ones moved to Oakland. In Northern California, Soskin graduated from Castlemont High School.
The Bay Area activist talked about the challenge of getting access to education when she wrote a blog in 2017.
“I grew up at a time when college was only for the privileged,” she wrote, according to SFGATE. “Young women whose parents could afford to, sent them to higher education in order to enable them to marry well.”
Betty Reid Soskin became a park ranger when she was 85 years old
As ABC News reported, Soskin became a park ranger when she gave tours at Richmond’s Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historical Park. Per People, the beloved park ranger was also an NPS consultant, who contributed to conducting research on how the park should be formed. Soskin was the only Black person in the room when the team conducted the study.
As she continued to give tours at the park in the following years, Soskin shared her story with visitors and specifically talked about overcoming numerous hurdles caused by segregation.
Soskin earned a commemorative coin from Barack Obama in 2015, according to The Grio. The coin was, however, stolen when thieves broke into Soskin’s home and attacked her. Soskin returned to work three years after the terrible experience.
Shortly after her 110th birthday, Soskin announced her retirement: “To be a part of helping to mark the place where that dramatic trajectory of my own life, combined with others of my generation, will influence the future by the footprints we’ve left behind has been incredible,” she said in a statement as she retired, per People. “Being a primary source in the sharing of that history – my history – and giving shape to a new national park has been exciting and fulfilling. It has proven to bring meaning to my final years.”
