Jane Anne Boorman

Jane was born in Lemmon, South Dakota to Anne Sutton Boorman and Lloyd Bruce (LB) Boorman. She graduated from Lemmon High School and Marquette University.

Jane’s life straddled South Dakota and Washington, DC. Born and raised on the high plains in Lemmon, South Dakota, Jane embodied the flinty independence of its early settlers. She was hard to know and always pushed for perfection, but once you were in her life you had a steadfast, loyal, and loving friend.

In Lemmon, Jane was editor and held other roles at the Lemmon Leader—the family-owned newspaper—where she worked until 1973. She also was named co-editor for “Dakota Panorama”—a history of South Dakota published by the South Dakota Territory Centennial observance in 1961.

Jane’s passion for Republican party politics started early in her life. She was selected Outstanding Young Republican Woman in South Dakota and represented South Dakota as the state’s Young Republican National Committee woman in 1961. In 1963 she was elected Vice Chairman of the National Young Republican Federation.

In 1973, she moved from Lemmon to Washington, D.C. to be a Press Secretary for then Congressman James Abdnor when he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. She followed Abdnor to the U.S. Senate in 1981 as the Senator’s personal secretary. As the Washington Post noted in 1986, Jane was “the embodiment of that Hill legend—the furiously devoted personal secretary, a combination mother, wife and watchdog, protecting as she sees best the beloved senator behind the door.”

Boorman joined the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) in 1987 as Director of Communications after President Ronald Reagan appointed Abdnor as Administrator of the SBA. During her 28 years at the Agency, Jane held various positions including managing the agency’s relationship with SCORE and coordinating activities when international delegations visited the SBA. She retired from the SBA in 2015.

In Washington, she made her home at Riverside Condominium for 48 years and was active on the condo board, Southwest Neighborhood Assembly, and was a long-time organist at Fort Leslie J. McNair, and at St. Dominic Catholic Church.

Although she lived in Washington DC, Jane maintained a strong foothold in South Dakota through memberships in the S.D. Newspaper Association, the S.D. Historical Society, and in championing growth for her hometown of Lemmon. She was also a lifetime member of the Society of Professional Journalists.

She is survived by her brother Bruce Boorman, Santee, California, and numerous nieces and nephews. Jane was preceded in her death by her parents and a sister, Catherine Becker, Hartford, Wisconsin.

In remembrance of Jane Boorman’s life, the family asks that any charitable donations be made to WETA, Jane’s favorite classical music station or to Jewish Social Service Agency (JSSA), her amazing hospice care team.

Memorial services will be held in Washington, D.C. and Lemmon, S.D after the pandemic threat has diminished.