Anita Muriel Kessel, 92, passed away peacefully on March 2, 2015, at her home in Hollywood, Florida. Her death was announced by Dr. Stanley Kessel, her beloved husband of 51 years.

Anita was born on August 30, 1922, in Brooklyn NY, the daughter of David and Tillie Frankel. She was a graduate of James Madison High School and the Parsons School of Design in New York. In 1942, after a short modeling career, Anita married Leo Tischler of Teaneck, New Jersey. The couple settled in Miami Beach, Fla., and had three children, Bonni, Samuel, and Andrew. Leo died in 1957 at age 41. Anita was active in PTA, Hadassah and Fight for Sight, where Anita and her sister-in-law, Anita Frankel, staged fashion shows on behalf of Frankel’s, a women’s clothing store in Hollywood and other cities in Florida that were owned by Anita’s father. After Leo’s death, Anita went to work managing a children’s clothing store at the Eden Roc Hotel.

In 1962 she married Dr. Stanley Kessel, an orthodontist in Hollywood, Fla. The couple became a vital part of the Hollywood Playhouse and Anita served as a long- term board member. She did the costume design for seven productions a year over a period of thirty years. She was active with the Jewish Federation and belonged to Temple Beth El in Hollywood.

Anita was predeceased by her son, Todd Adam Kessel, who died at age five in 1971, a daughter Bonni G. Tischler, a former Assistant Commissioner of the U.S. Customs Service, and by a brother, Bernie Frankel, and a sister, Norma Dorfman.
In addition to her loving husband, an adjunct professor at Nova Southeastern University School of Dentistry, she is survived by sons Samuel Tischler, a retired hospital administrator in Hollywood, Fla., and Andrew Kessel, Chief Financial Officer for the Clinton Foundation in Little Rock, Ark.; grandchildren Tamara Tischler, David Tischler and Douglas Kessel; and by daughters-in-law, Sue Tischler and Vicky Kessel.

A graveside service will be held at Temple Beth El Memorial Gardens, 4900 Griffin Rd Entrance on Old Griffin Rd at 1:30 PM on Thursday March 5. Visitation will be from 3:00 to 7:00 pm on following the service on March 5 at the Five Star Premier Residence at 2480 N. Park Rd. Hollywood Fla.

Donations may be made in lieu of flowers to the Bonni G. Tischler Endowment at the University of Florida Foundation at PO Box 14425 Gainesville, FL 32604