In memoriam
Bonni Gail Tischler, TEL 1966, died Aug. 9 of cancer at George Washington University Hospital. She was 60.
She was “the highest-ranking female law enforcement officer during a 30-year career at U.S. Customs and Border Protection and one of the first female sky marshals,” according to The Washington Post.
After earning her bachelor’s degree, Tischler worked for the Republican National Committee. She enrolled in the sky marshal program in 1971. In the next decade, she served as an Equal Employment Opportunity investigator and a special agent.
In the 1980s, she supervised Customs’ financial operations, directed the Smuggling Investigations Division, and headed an inqury of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International in Tampa.
In the 1990s, she headed investigations in South Florida.
This decade, Tischler “became the agency’s first woman to serve as assistant commissioner for field operations,” according to the Post. “She considered retiring in 2001 but stayed on after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to work on the twin tasks of keeping trade and the economy moving while enhancing border security.”
In 2002, the College named Tischler an Alumna of Distinction.
She is survived by her mother Anita Kessel and stepfather Stan Kessel of Hollywood, Fla.; brother Sam Tischler, JM 1970, of Deerfield Beach; and half brother Andy Kessel of Little Rock, Ark.
