John M. Sadler, 80; Was Civic Leader in Pasadena

John Marsh Sadler, a Pasadena civic leader and former planning commission member who was a fund-raiser for charitable and educational causes, has died. He was 80.

Sadler died Friday at Norris Cancer Center from complications of lymphoma, according to his son Tom.

The long-time Pasadena resident made his career as a publisher’s representative, a real estate and sales executive and a stockbroker.

But he gained a far broader reputation for his many contributions to his community.

Sadler was first appointed to the Pasadena Planning Commission in 1968 and during his long tenure oversaw review of the city’s general plan.

He also was a board member of the Pasadena Public Library Foundation, Polytechnic School, the Hillsides home for children, Descanso Gardens and the Bishop Gooden Home. He worked with the Pasadena Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependency and served on the Parish Council of All Saints Episcopal Church.

A noted horse-racing enthusiast, Sadler shared ownership of such thoroughbreds as Woodland Ride with his horse trainer son, John W. Sadler.

He was an Army bomber pilot in the South Pacific during World War II and later earned a degree in history at Stanford.

Widowed in 1979 by the death of his first wife, the former Rosemary Clock, Sadler married Elsie Cory Buchanan in 1983.

In addition to his wife, Sadler is survived by three sons, Tom, John and David; one daughter, Carolyn; a sister, Barbara Sadler Pande; four stepdaughters, Peggy and Jennifer Buchanan, Rebeccah Miller and Emily Ritchie; and 15 grandchildren.

Services are scheduled at 4 p.m. Friday at All Saints Episcopal Church, 132 N. Euclid, Pasadena. Instead of flowers, the family has requested that donations be made to one of the institutions Sadler supported -- Hillsides, Descanso Gardens, Bishop Gooden Home or All Saints church.