Betty Reid Soskin was a historian, musician, and the oldest U.S. park ranger until she stepped away from that role in 2022. Soskin died on December 21 at her Richmond home at 104, her family confirmed. Soskin's family, in a statement on Facebook, mentioned,"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. She was attended by family. She led a fully packed life and was ready to leave. We understand the public nature of Betty's life, however we ask that you please respect the family's privacy at this time."Soskin worked as a file clerk for a boilermaker's union during World War II and also founded Reid's Records in Berkeley. Betty Reid Soskin worked for more than a decade as an interpretive ranger at the Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Park Museum in Richmond before retiring from the National Park Service in 2022.More about Betty Reid SoskinBetty Reid Soskin was born in Detroit and raised in New Orleans before her family moved to Oakland in 1927. Betty had four children with husband Mel Reid. In 1945, she and her husband opened one of the first Black-owned record shops in Berkeley, known as Reid's Records, which later closed in 2019.In 1972, she went on to divorce Mel Reid and went on to marry William Soskin in 1978. The couple stayed married until William's death in 1988. In her 70s, Betty began working as a staffer for Berkeley City Council Member Don Jelinek and California Assembly Member Dion Aroner.She worked for the National Park Service for 15 years, where she led programs and shared her personal story with visitors at Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historic Park in Richmond.At the time, Soskin, in a statement, opened up about sharing her history with the next generation,"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."Soskin suffered from a stroke in 2019 but continued to work in 2020 before retiring at 100. In 1995, Soskin was honored for her work and the California Legislature named her Woman of the Year. Soskin also received an honorary doctorate from Mills College in 2017 and an honorary doctorate from Cal State East Bay in Hayward in 2024.