Betty Reid Soskin, once the nation's oldest park ranger, has died at age 104

"She led a fully packed life and was ready to leave, they wrote. Reid Soskin spent 15 years in the national park service, where she told visitors the stories of unsung marginalized World War II workers at the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond. It earned her a presidential coin from President Barack Obama. She also dated Jackie Robinson, co-founded Reid's Records in Berkeley,"

"She served in a Jim Crow segregated union hall in Richmond during World War II, experienced redlining in Berkeley when she tried to build her first house, and moved to a racially-hostile Walnut Creek in the 1950s. Her time sharing her lived experience as a park ranger accidentally catapulted her to fame in her 80s. In her 90s, she published a memoir recounting her many amazing experiences."

Betty Reid Soskin died peacefully at age 104 at her Richmond home. She co-founded Reid's Records in Berkeley and celebrated her birthday at the middle school named for her. She served 15 years in the National Park Service at Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park, telling stories of marginalized World War II workers and receiving a presidential coin from President Barack Obama. She dated Jackie Robinson, worked for the Black Panthers delivering cash, and endured Jim Crow segregation, redlining, and racial hostility in California. She published a memoir, Sign My Name to Freedom. Memorial details will be announced; mourners are asked to donate to her namesake school or support the film Sign My Name To Freedom.

Read at www.berkeleyside.org