Betty Reid Soskin, The Oldest Active Park Ranger Finally Retires At 100

America's Oldest Full-Time National Park Ranger Betty Reid Soskin Turns 100

Source: Justin Sullivan / Getty

Congratulations are in order for Betty Reid Soskin.

The 100-year-old active ranger, who has been working with National Park Service (NPS) for over the last decade, is finally retiring.

Soskin began her long career as a ranger at the ripe age of 85, leading tours of the World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, California. The passionate NPS worker would share her “personal experiences and the efforts of women from diverse backgrounds who worked on the World War II Home Front,” according to a press release issued by NPS.

“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 shared of her exciting career.

“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,” she added. “It has proven to bring meaning to my final years.”

Soskin decided to work with NPS after she was hired as a consultant to research the National Historical Park’s formation, but it wasn’t an easy feat. At the time, she was the only person of color employed with the agency, but she made it her mission to document the park’s history of segregation. During her tours, the dedicated ranger often shared stories about her time working as a segregated union hall clerk during World War II and “becoming a political and community activist and songwriter during the civil rights movement,” PEOPLE noted. On her last day, Soskin provided an interpretive program to the public and visited with friends.

“Though I am not a trained historian — my tours are necessarily a way to share my oral history with the public,” the ranger told TODAY during an interview back in 2015. Soskin received a number of awards during her tenure with NPS including the ‘California Woman of the Year’ award in 1995 and President Barack Obama honored the star with a presidential coin following her historic lighting of the National Christmas tree at the White House in 2015. Additionally, Glamour Magazine named the ranger “Woman of the Year” in 2018.“Betty has made a profound impact on the National Park Service and the way we carry out our mission,” NPS Director Chuck Sams shared of Soskin’s mega milestone in a statement. “I am grateful for her lifelong dedication to sharing her story and wish her all the best in retirement.”