Betty Reid Soskin was many things to many people during her 104 years on the planet.
She married twice, mothered four children, owned the first Black record store in Berkeley, wrote and sang freedom fighter songs, started a career at the Rosie the Riveter Homefront Shipyard Museum in Richmond that led to her being the oldest park ranger in the United States at the age of 85, and retired at 100. She also authored a book, inspired the Betty Reid Soskin Middle School in West Contra Costa County, and was the subject of a play and a forthcoming film.
Because Betty’s last names belonged to her former husbands, she preferred to go just by her first name: Betty. Betty lost the three most significant men in her life—her father, and her first and second husbands—in the span of months when she was in her mid-years.
“I remember being devastated and not knowing what was next for me because I had lived my entire life around these men,” Betty said. “I mourned, and then one day I jumped up and decided to start living on my terms as Betty—and I’ve been going ever since.”
Betty Reid Soskin passed away on Dec. 21, 2025, at the age of 104. Over the years during interviews in which she revealed much of her life story, she spoke with great oratorial skill. In an era when folks are attached to their cellphones, Betty moved people to forget about their phones, lean in and listen.
During a 2018 interview with President Donald Trump, at a time when racist, xenophobic and Islamophobic rhetoric was becoming normalized, Betty’s interpretation of the moment proved illuminating.
“I struggle when people say, ‘This isn’t who we are’ as a country,” she said. “Because I think this is exactly who we are. And now that it is out in the open, we can begin to address it.”
Betty’s daughter, Di’ara Reid, said she hopes people look to her mom as an example of how to live fully in the moment of the here and now and face exactly what is in front of them.
“My mom never lived in the past. She never borrowed from the future. She lived in the present moment,” Reid said. “Every decision she made was made in the here and now. That gift of being in the present is one of the most important things she gave to me and the world.”
Reid, who identifies as a transgender woman, had begun transitioning in 2019 when her mother suffered a stroke.
“My former self was afraid of taking care of an aging parent, and I was totally afraid,” Reid said. “After about two weeks, Di’ara kicked in and enjoyed the relationship with my mother.”
In earlier life, Reid hadn’t felt particularly close to her mom. Reid remembers taking for granted the stardom her mom accomplished by speaking her authentic truth with the kind of elegance and grace that had people sitting on the edges of their seats hanging on her every word.
“For the last five and half years, I had a front row seat of seeing Betty Reid Soskin, the famous icon,” Reid said, “but also getting to know my mother as Betty, and not just my mom.”
As a mixed-race individual who transitioned in her mid-60s, Reid said she was used to feeling out of place, but that ultimately she looks to her mother as an example of how to show up in the world.
“I grew up being too dark to be in some spaces and too light to be in Black spaces, so I was always on the outside looking in,” Reid recalled. “And then when I began identifying as a Black woman by way of trans experience, I learned about a whole different level of struggle. But I watched my mom handle it with grace and learned. My mother was instrumental in helping me become the woman that I am today.”
Reid is not sure what her next step will look like after spending the better part of the past decade as her mom’s round-the-clock caretaker and manager. However, by taking in the cadence and rhythm of the stories Reid recounts about her own life, her mother’s life and the people she advocates for, it’s clear that the flame of Betty Reid Soskin still shines brightly.
Celebrate the Life of Betty Reid Soskin, March 1, 2pm, at the Calvin Simmons Theater at Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts. hjkarts.org/upcoming-events