SAN MATEO, Calif. – On Dec. 24, 2025, Francis A. Sadler Jr. (“Bud” to his family and friends) passed away at the Palo Alto VA Medical Center in Palo Alto, Calif., after an extended decline in health due to heart disease and, in the end, a ruptured aorta. Born Sept. 4, 1943, in Bellows Falls, Vt., his family moved to Springfield, Vt., where he grew up. While in high school, he worked at the A&P supermarket, and caddied at the Crown Point Country Club, where a passion for golf emerged.
Upon graduation from Springfield High School in 1961, he joined the Navy, and was stationed at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Hawaii, for three years, spending part of his enlistment with the Defense Department. He then moved to Lahaina, on Maui, becoming an avid and accomplished surfer.
Following his eight years in Hawaii, he moved to Los Angeles, finally settling in San Mateo for 30 years. While married, he resided in Tahoe, Nev., part time, where skiing became another passion.
A self-proclaimed “loner,” he really was a people person. Bud loved working in the hospitality industry for the Hilton chain in San Francisco. He enjoyed meeting and knowing well-known political figures, celebrities, and athletes from across the country.
He returned to Springfield for many years, visiting family and friends. Often his trips centered around alumni gatherings, where he worked on floats and enjoyed all the festivities, once even making a trip from Hawaii. Autumn, too, brought him back. He was truly the happiest in Springfield with family and friends. He loved Vermont, just not its long winters.
After retiring at 80 years old, he became an avid fisherman, along with many locals at Half Moon Bay, a favorite place for him, known for its beaches, surfing, and farms, west of San Francisco. When in Springfield, he stayed for extended periods with his friend Ed Foster, who prepared a special place for him in his home. Later, Bud stayed with Diane Bush and Wayne Rautio, also former friends and classmates, in Burlington, on Lake Champlain. Denny Chadwick was also a dear friend with whom he spent quality time. He is predeceased by former wife Carolyn Brashear, younger sister Linda Lauzen, parents Frank and Mary Sadler, and nephew Marc Tesconi. He is survived by older sister Marie Sadler, of Essex, Vt.; niece Carla St. Gelais, of Floyd, Va.; and nephew Tim Lauzen, of Hutto, Texas; plus several great-nieces and -nephews.
From the organ donation program referenced by the VA Hospital, skin tissue was taken for burn victims in the U.S. or abroad where its most needed.
Bud was cremated in California, with remains sent to his sister Marie. His ashes will be buried at the family cemetery plot in Springfield, Vt., when a later service will be announced. A very, very special thank-you to the San Mateo Agency on Aging, the doctors, nurses, staff and hospice workers who were so kind and caring throughout both Bud’s hospitalizations and at home. Bud ultimately died on Christmas Eve morning, at the VA Hospital.
Please remember the words of the song “Say It Now,” from Vermont’s celebrated singer-songwriter, Jon Gailmor, who also recently passed.
It’s important to act on our intuitions and gut feelings to call, visit, and speak from the heart to those you know and love – now. Later may never come.