Debra Gisler

Waynesville - Debra Bragg Gisler, passed away peacefully from cancer in Waynesville, North Carolina on, August 22, 2016. Debra and her husband, John, moved to Waynesville 12 years ago to begin retirement. She was a Master Gardener, a volunteer for the Junaluska Elementary School garden and beloved by her family and friends. Debra retired from the U.S. District Courts for the Southern District of Florida. She was an early employee of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Headquarters in Washington, DC. She became a research assistant studying black lung disease for the Center of Disease Control. In 1985, Debra became the first support employee for the FBI office in Ft. Pierce, Florida, and then part of the team for the then new Office of the U.S. Attorney in Ft. Pierce. She finished her career as the first judicial assistant of United States Magistrate Judge Frank Lynch of Ft. Pierce. Debra is survived by her husband, John; her sister and brother-in-law, Gwen and Earl Whitney, of Waynesville; her niece Michelle Stafford, of Tennessee; her stepchildren, Charles Gisler and Michelle Balfoort of South Florida; and three grandsons, Peyton, Emmett and Tucker. At Debra's request, a small family grave side service will be held later this fall in Waynesville, NC.