Anna Marie Zink, 65, of Ogden Utah, passed away on March 25, 2025 after a 3.5 year battle with neuroendocrine carcinoma.

Anna was born on January 20, 1960 to mother Jungsoon Lee in Uijeonbu, South Korea. Anna spent the first 12 years of her life with her mother and brother John in Korea. When Anna was 11 and facing a challenging life in Korea, Anna asked her mother to give her up for adoption so she could go to the United States and have a chance at a better life.

On February 21st, 1972, Anna left South Korea and flew to the United States on Northwest Orient airlines. As a young girl from a modest background she had never been on an airplane before. The flight attendants seemed very glamorous to her and they showed her an enormous amount of kindness. Right then and there she dreamed of someday becoming a flight attendant when she grew up.

Arriving in the United States, Anna met her adoptive family, parents Cecil and Lorraine Pettygrove, sister Rachelle, and brother Dwaine. Anna quickly settled into her new family in Blaine, MN.

Anna started school in MN not knowing a word of English but still was able to make some great friends. She graduated from Armstrong High School in Plymouth, MN in 1979. As she started a family and was raising a son, she never forgot about her birth mother, her brother, and thousands of other Amerasian kids throughout Asia who dreamed of becoming US citizens. Anna worked with Americans for International Aid and Adoption and Representative Stuart McKinney from Connecticut to introduce the Amerasian Act. Anna testified before congress and lobbied for the bill on the Today Show and on PBS. On October 22, 1982, Ronald Reagan signed The Amerasian Act into law which allowed Amerasians to have first preference at US citizenship.

In May of 1983 Anna achieved her childhood dream and was hired by Northwest Orient (later to become Delta Air Lines) as a flight attendant where she worked for 38 years until her retirement in August of 2020.

Anna had a full life and spent time traveling the world with her beloved husband Steve. Together they made many wonderful friends and had many wonderful adventures. More than anything, she adored her grandchildren. She enjoyed spoiling them and was the best grandmother ever. She was also a great dog mom to her German shorthair Bella.

Anna is preceded in death by her mother, Jungsoon; adoptive parents, Cecil and Lorraine; mother-in-law Leta; and granddaughter, Lucy. Survived by loving husband, Steve; son, Edward (Mary) Hanson; stepchildren, Nash (Sophie) Zink, Ryan Zink grandchildren, Eddie, Will, and Elsie Hanson, and Von Zink; Siblings, John (Sung) Lee, Rachelle, and Dwaine; nephew, Ryan Lee; niece, Alison Lee; and beloved dog, Bella.

Anna held a Living Celebration of Life in Utah in May of 2023 and will be put to rest at Fort Snelling National Cemetery on Monday, April 14th. We will have a modest gathering of family and friends in downtown St Paul after her burial. Please text Ed Hanson at 612-799-4259 if you wish to attend.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Huntsman Cancer Center, an organization near and dear to Anna's heart.