Oldest active National Park Service ranger retires at 100

Ranger Betty Reid Soskin sits in front of the Rosie the Riveter Visitor Center. Photo: NPS Photo // Luther Bailey

WASHINGTON — Betty Reid Soskin, the National Park Service’s (NPS) oldest active ranger, retired at the end of March.

Soskin, who turned 100-years-old in September 2021, spent her last working day giving an interpretative program and visiting coworkers at Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park in California.

“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,” Soskin said.

Before joining the NPS, Soskin participated in scoping meetings with the City of Richmond and the NPS to develop the general management plan for Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park.

She worked with the NPS on a grant funded by PG&E to uncover untold stories of African Americans on the Home Front during WWII, which led to a temporary position working with the NPS at the age of 84.

“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,” said Soskin. “It has proven to bring meaning to my final years.”