Obituary
Heather A. Campbell ( March 8, 1946 -September 8, 2025)
From an Oklahoma farm girl to a pioneering female special agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration(DEA), Heather chose a challenging path. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, she grew up on a farm in Collinsville, Oklahoma and was responsible for helping carry out typical farm chores. The family moved back to Tulsa and Heather started her career a few years later in law enforcement. She worked for the Tulsa police department in the early 70’s and then started a 27 year career with the Federal Government. Throughout her career she was assigned to numerous locations with varying responsibilities. She served with the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and transitioned into DEA service as the first female DEA Special Agent. At that time she was stationed in San Francisco as Assistant
Special Agent in Charge(ASAC) of the San Francisco DEA office. She helped with developing training programs including spending more than 2 years as a Course Developer/Instructor for the Office of Training. Throughout her career she was praised for developing and maintaining a professional and productive working relationship with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The Director of the FBI personally commended her for her assistance in upgrading FBI’s fleet operations, providing numerous vehicles used in various undercover operations. Prior to retirement, Heather served as Chief of the Asset Forfeiture Section in the Office of Chief Counsel, establishing herself as an invaluable resource to the Chief Counsel, Deputy Chief Counsel, and senior DEA management.
After retirement, Heather moved to Florida and worked for several years conducting federal background checks. She enjoyed community events, was an avid Bingo player and loved her dogs. Everyone appreciated her “yard art” which varied with the seasons.
She was a true patriot and always had great respect for our U.S. flag, To reinforce and encourage others to do the same, she developed a program locally to collect and respectfully dispose of U.S. flags and also recognize and thank local law enforcement and first responders for their service. She will be sorely missed by those who knew her.
Heather is survived by her sister, Jo Elmblad and brother, Frank Campbell, Frank’s wife Sunnie and several nephews and a niece.
Leave a reply