Rodeo friends tip hats to Anne Z.

“You will always be missed.”

That engraved plaque sentiment from Stampede Rodeo stock contractor Jim Korkow and his family summarizes the feeling of many friends remembering Anne Ziolkowski Christensen at the 21st annual rodeo at Crazy Horse.

Anne, the rodeo’s co-founder and managing director, died in May at her Crazy Horse home.

Her pickup, “Goldie,” was parked where she usually sat overlooking the chutes. The hillside crowd this year saw a rider-less horse circle the arena in her memory, followed by the plaque presentation to her family. Great Plains Indian Rodeo Association chairman Jake Longbrake and secretary Susan Heathershaw also gave Anne’s family a Lakota star quilt honoring as the crowd watched.