Lynda Bowers Sadler

Lynda Bowers Sadler, 71, of River Bend died on January 29, 2026, at her home with her family nearby. She was a retired Assistant Clerk of Court for Craven County.

To know Lynda was to go places with Lynda. Besides regular vacations with her husband of 52 years, Bill, and her son Rob, she and Bill traveled across the country by train and across the ocean to Spain by cruise ship. Her nieces and nephew remember “big” trips with them—to Arizona and Mexico, to Fenway Park and to Washington, DC. She traveled with one or both of her sisters (and groups of friends—lots of friends) to Las Vegas, Washington, DC, Louisville, KY, and various small cities along the East Coast. Once she organized a New Bern Outdoor Adventure camping trip to the French Broad River with a balloon ride at the end. In fact, Lynda organized all the trips, although she was perfectly willing to make assignments to her travel mates, who mostly just did as they were told. (Her most complicated accomplishments in travel management, though, were in coordinating her chosen group to go to the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament whenever it was played in NC. No one is quite sure how she got all those tickets, but the wheeling and dealing for them could be intense!)

Lynda kayaked, and she was also especially proud of being a leading member of the first all-woman crew to win the The Trent River Raft Race on their raft “Hot Flash”. Aside from that, though, Lynda preferred to observe and support sports rather than participate. She provided support to Bill in his many cycling adventures, especially with Cycle North Carolina and the Across the State Ride. For years she managed “Bernie Bear’s Café” that provided breakfast to 1000 or so cyclists in the annual MS Ride. She kept score for Rob’s New Bern Church Youth League and Babe Ruth League baseball teams (and the New Bern Babe Ruth All-Stars). True to form, she was the “travel agent” for Rob’s traveling soccer team. As a season ticket holder at NC State Men’s Basketball and NC State Women’s Basketball, she helped coach the teams and instruct the referees from the stands and was pretty sure that neither team would have won without her shouted encouragement. She was also a season ticket holder for the Down East Wood Ducks Minor League Baseball team, and unofficially kept score for them, too.

Lynda saw no reason to read a book for its literary value. Instead, she read what she knew to be trashy novels. In fact, she has a whole bookcase that Bill built by hand filled with books she hoped no one knew about.

Lynda believed in truth (although she might embellish a story here and there) and she believed in justice. She enthusiastically marched with her sister, Sue in the first and third Women’s Marches (2017 and 2019) in Washington and in the second in Raleigh.

Lynda is survived by her husband, William W. (Bill) Sadler; her son, Rob (or Bobby) (Sueanne Kupek) and their children, Ariella and Charlotte Kupek and Drake Sadler; her sister, Sue Guptill (Randy) and sons, Jme (Alison Nickles) and Chris (Liz); her sister, Sherri Richard and her daughters, Rhiannon Giles and Maegen Wilson (Scott) and a bunch of great nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her parents, Robert Green Bowers and Jean Gatlin Bowers and her beloved dog, Darlene.

The family would especially like to thank Dr. W. Chris Taylor, Dr. Jennifer Aron, and Dr. Svetlana Kats along with the nurses and staff of the SECU Cancer Center in New Bern. They might be the only cancer center anywhere that would schedule appointments and infusions so that their patient never had to miss a State ballgame.

There will be a visitation and chance to share memories on Saturday, February 7, 2026 at 3:00 PM at Daniels-Sadler Funeral Home, 52 Bryant St., Grantsboro, NC. Wear an NC State t-shirt or sweatshirt (or whatever State thing you have or can find). We suggest that any contributions in Lynda’s memory be made to Colonial Capital Humane Society, 1860 Old Airport Rd., New Bern, NC 28562 or https://colonialcapital.wixsite.com/cchs/donate.

Travel on, Lynda. We’ll miss you.