
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, November 18, 1993                   TAG: 9311200258
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI                                 LENGTH: Medium

PULASKI COUNTY LAWYER, LEADER HONORED FOR HIS 'CALLING'

Veteran Pulaski County lawyer and community leader Philip M. Sadler considered being a lawyer his ``calling,'' not just a career, his colleagues say. Members of the Pulaski County Bar Association this week honored the 78-year-old Sadler, who will retire at the end of the year. He and his wife plan to move to Charlottesville.

A resolution approved by the association saluted Sadler as ``a beacon of leadership, involvement and contribution to which all attorneys who follow should repair.''

A native of Tennessee, Sadler is senior partner in the firm of Gilmer, Sadler, Ingram, Sutherland and Hutton. Before becoming a lawyer, Sadler was a high school and business school teacher, and also worked briefly for the Government Accounting Office.

During World War II, he served in the Navy and was commissioned as an officer in 1942. Among other commendations, Sadler earned the Purple Heart for his role in the Battle of Okinawa. He retired from the military with the rank of lieutenant commander.

Following graduation from the University of Virginia School of Law, Sadler began practicing law in Virginia in 1947, a practice his colleagues say was marked by his willingness to serve people no matter their station in life or ability to pay.

Sadler was active in professional organizations, served as president of the Virginia State Bar from 1975 to 1976, and held other positions within the Virginia State Bar Council and Foundation.

He was a member of several Virginia Bar committees, including the panel that studied whether to permit cameras in Virginia's courtrooms.

Over the years, Sadler also held many prominent positions within the community. He has been president of both the Pulaski County Jaycees and the Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce, and he served as School Board chairman from 1958 to 1968.

In addition, Sadler has been recognized for his work on behalf of New River Community Action, Habitat for Humanity, Pulaski Daily Bread and SHARE, as well as his service to the March of Dimes, the Pulaski YMCA, and other charitable organizations.

He is a long-time member of First Presbyterian Church in Pulaski, where he has served as an elder.

Sadler also once headed the Pulaski County Democratic Committee and only narrowly lost a race for the Virginia Senate.

Sadler is married to the former Anne Pritchett and has three children.

The Bar Association resolution wished Sadler and his wife ``every happiness as he travels down the road to cheer more regularly and actively for the Wahoos.''

by CNB