ABILENE, TEXAS — Just shy of 500 people, including hundreds of law enforcement officers from across the country, gathered at a memorial ceremony here Friday to honor and reflect on the life of fallen Border Patrol Agent Donna Doss.
“Donna didn’t just talk the talk, she walked the walk,” said U.S. Border Patrol Chief Carla Provost. “To Donna’s family in the room, I can promise you this: You will forever be a part of the Border Patrol family.”
Doss, 49, died after being struck by a vehicle during a traffic stop last Saturday.
Doss was a Washington state native and joined the patrol in 2003. She was first stationed in the Del Rio Sector in Texas but later moved to Oroville, Wash. In 2012, she transferred back to Del Rio and was promoted to supervisory agent, after which she was named operations officer in the Laredo Sector in 2016.
She moved from Laredo to Abilene in 2017 to start as a resident agent, a prestigious position where one agent is responsible for and serves an entire region.
“It took a special person like Donna to become a resident agent. These resident agents have to be especially resourceful. They must be able to work independently, yet collaboratively,” Provost said to the hundreds of green, blue, and gray uniformed officers in the audience.
US Border Patrol Chief Carla Provost flew in from Washington, DC, to honor and speak at the memorial service for fallen Border Patrol Agent Donna Doss pic.twitter.com/wUyOXaeoR4
— Anna Giaritelli (@Anna_Giaritelli) February 8, 2019
Mike Doss, her husband of 23 years, was the only non-agent to speak during the memorial service.
“I’ve probably cried more than I have in my life. It was a relief in a way to have these people that would — not just ‘We feel you, brother,’ but to cry with me,” he said about his wife’s colleagues. “It wasn’t just somebody doing a job; it was somebody doing a job that truly felt for who she was.”
El Centro Sector Chief Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez mentored Doss for years and remembered when the younger agent approached her to talk about moving up in the 20,000-person agency. Chavez described Doss as ambitious and determined.
“Donna was very passionate about the job she did. She was very proud of her title, Border Patrol agent. She couldn’t believe she got to wear the uniform everyday, put the badge on,” said Chavez, the top official in the eastern California region.
One agent said the minute Doss showed up at a scene, “You knew everything was gonna be OK.”
Multiple speakers joked about Doss’ love for animals and her “petting zoo” at home with a variety of domesticated and outdoor pets. Doss was part of the Horse Patrol Unit and would often choose to go out solo on horseback to patrol the border when she was stationed in south Texas than take a vehicle.
At the end of the ceremony, Doss’ horse was walked down the aisle to her casket to say goodbye.
The work horse that had belonged to fallen Border Patrol Agent Donna Doss was walked up to her casket to say goodbye to its partner pic.twitter.com/9SMI6fsYmx
— Anna Giaritelli (@Anna_Giaritelli) February 9, 2019
Doss was described as a “unifier” by one of a handful of agents who spoke in addition to Border Patrol officials. The young female agent said Doss would go out of her way to invite the wives of other agents to get-togethers.
“There is no finer example of honor or the United States Border Patrol than her legacy,” said Del Rio Sector Acting Chief Patrol Agent Matthew Hudak.
The ceremony concluded with a 21-gun salute, bag pipe rendition of Amazing Grace, and performance of Taps by two trumpeters.
The 21-gun salute to @CBP Border Patrol Agent Donna Doss pic.twitter.com/9U3u0ohYaK
— Anna Giaritelli (@Anna_Giaritelli) February 9, 2019
Doss’s death on the job marked the first for the patrol in 14 months and 128th since 1925.
Doss leaves behind her parents, husband, two stepsons, brother, and sister.
