Anna Bosma

Anna Grace Bosma was born on May 30, 2001, in Yankton, South Dakota, to Abby (Horn) and Justin Bosma. She was also welcomed by her five-year-old brother Thomas. Anna lived with her family in Vermillion until their move to Sioux Falls in 2004.

In Sioux Falls, Anna attended Mark Twain Elementary, Patrick Henry Middle School, and Lincoln High School. As a child, she was shy in many ways, but she developed a delightful group of friends and playmates that spent many hours together playing, making crafts, pretending in her playhouse, and giggling. She also loved adventures with her parents and traveling with her grandparents, and she happily played with her growing family of cousins.

During junior high and high school, Anna’s interests and talents began to shine. She enjoyed playing the piano, learning ju jitsu, writing both prose and poetry, and most of all she enjoyed art, especially painting. She received many awards, both academically and as an artist.

As a young teen, Anna also began working with her father in his business, and he was the best boss she ever had! She also enjoyed multiple trips with her parents and brother.

During her teen years Anna developed lifelong friendships, and she intentionally cultivated and nurtured relationships. She loved planning parties, often with a “theme” and always with abundant laughter. She also loved spontaneous adventures, and had a way of persuading people to join her. It was impossible to say no to her! She was always ready to do a makeover and she liked repurposing clothes and décor. During the Covid years she began cutting hair for select people, and called her venture “Covid Cuts”. Anna had a joyfulness about her and had a giving nature.

Anna chose to be baptized, proclaiming her faith in God, on Easter Sunday, 2011 at Oak Hills Baptist Church. She had many wonderful experiences attending Camp Judson.

Anna graduated with honors from Lincoln High School in 2019, and she excitedly moved on to the Honors College at SDSU in Brookings, majoring in Exercise Science. She maintained old friendships, but also met new friends who became very dear to her. She was especially happy to live in an apartment where there was a dog during her last years of college, as Anna always had a strong passion for animals. As a child she adored her chickens, even polishing their nails! She loved her family’s dogs through the years – first Rex, then Orson, and then Boris, a Bernese Mountain Dog. In July, 2022 she initiated the Sioux Falls Area Bernese Mountain Dogs group and was delighted when so many dogs (and their owners) showed up for their first gathering.

In her senior year at SDSU Anna did an internship at Prairie Lakes Cardiac Rehab in Watertown where she made deep friendships and greatly enjoyed her work. She was not yet ready to live alone so she adopted her last pet, a beautiful cat named Jasper. Animals were always a big part of Anna’s life and she never met an animal she didn’t adore.

Anna graduated cum laude from SDSU with the Honors College Distinction in May, 2023, and was eager to start the next chapter of her life. In July she moved to Vermillion and entered the Occupational Therapy Doctorate program at the University of South Dakota. She was especially excited to blend her interest in occupational therapy with her interest in art.

Left to cherish her memory are her parents, Justin and Abby Bosma of Sioux Falls; brother and lifelong best friend, Thomas Bosma and sister in law Abby (Utech) Bosma of Sioux Falls; grandparents, Dennis and Cindy Bosma of Sioux Falls and Judy Horn of Slayton, MN; aunts and uncles, Julie (Josh) Mulder of Sioux Falls, Jennifer (Troy) VanEssen of Sioux Falls, Sarah (Kojoe) Otto of Crystal, MN, Peter (Megan) Horn of St. Paul, MN, and Matt (Kim) Horn of Minneapolis, MN; cousins, Amelia and Cooper VanEssen; MJ, Jane, and Kacien Mulder; Elisa and Abram Otto; Noah, Emme, and Mary Horn; and Walter Horn; Will Storey (special friend); loving pets, Boris and Jasper; extended family, and friends. She was welcomed into Heaven by her Grandpa Paul Horn.

She was greatly loved and she loved greatly in return. Blessed by her memory.