SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE -Tara Michelle Osmond's love for travel and nursing brought her North and in less than a year, she made a life for herself.

"Wherever she went, everybody loved her. She always had good remarks from everybody," said her father, Leonard Osmond.

The 29-year-old grew up on the south coast of Newfoundland in the small town of Hermitage-Sandyville, which has a population of fewer than 500 people.

"She's a very smart girl. She had good marks all throughout school. A very quiet girl she was," said Osmond. "She was a good kid growing up. We never did have any trouble with her."

Osmond said Tara loved figure skating and as a child, she wanted to be a veterinarian. She changed her mind when she went to university.

She attended Memorial University, taking a year of general studies before entering the nursing program.

She worked as a nurse in St. John's, N.L. and Halifax before moving to Yellowknife in January of this year.

"She said, 'Dad, I want to go up there because the money is better.' She had a car she wanted to pay for and student loans," Leonard said.

He said Tara loved her work and even after graduating in 2004, she kept studying, taking a trauma course and becoming more certified. He said she had been enjoying the pre-natal work she'd been doing in the NWT.

When she first arrived in Yellowknife, Tara Osmond worked as a flight nurse with Medic North. She moved to Behchoko in September to work as a community health nurse.

Her friends and co-workers say she will be greatly missed.

"She was the type of person that even though she was only here for two months, it felt like she was here for many years," said Ryan Hewlett, the nurse in charge at the Behchoko Health Centre.

"I miss her greatly."

Hewlett said the health community is struggling with her unexpected death.

"It's a solemn mood … we're just trying to get through," he said.

"She was pleasant, always happy," said Hewlett. "She brought a lot of smile to everyone's faces, to patients' faces. She showed true professionalism. To us, it's definitely going to be a loss."

A funeral service for Osmond will be held at St. Saviour's Anglican Church in Hermitage, N.L. on Saturday afternoon.