NINETY-YEAR-OLD MARY Sadler’s eyes twinkle as she studies the eager faces around the kindergarten classroom at Cascade Elementary School. Every morning, she lovingly delivers the bags of hot breakfast items to the students, and it’s the highlight of her day. With each warm mini pancake or sausage biscuit she hands out, a deeper sense of contentment wells up within Sadler. This simple act of nourishing the children feeds more than just their little bodies and sets a positive tone for the school day. Their delighted smiles and bright eyes reassure her once again that her presence makes a difference.
Her workday begins at 6:30 a.m.
She said, “We cook breakfast for 585 children and deliver everything to their classrooms, then I go back and bag up whatever is left. I make sack lunches for between 125 and 175 children. I also bake the potatoes and make the salads for our teachers. When I started out at Woodbury, everything was made from scratch. I baked the pies, cakes, and cobblers. My favorite was the peach cobbler.”
As a teenager, Sadler dreamed of enlisting in the U.S. Army. But after graduating from high school at 17, she worked at a five-and-dime store before settling in at Werthan Bag, a cotton mill in Nashville. She also spent nine years working for United Methodist Publishing House, where she helped print and distribute Sunday school materials.
She then “took on factory work,” and after 19 years, Sadler retired from Whirlpool when she turned 67. But for her, “retirement was boring.” She began working at Joe’s Place in Woodbury before transitioning into the cafeteria for her local grammar school in Cannon County. After selling the farm she owned with her late husband in 2014, Sadler happily settled in Wartrace to be closer to her four stepchildren, her two daughters who live in Murfreesboro, and her growing brood of great-grandchildren.
When she isn’t in the cafeteria packing sack lunches, Sadler enjoys solving 500-piece puzzles alongside her daughter, embroidering and sewing baby quilts, working on crafts such as cross-stitching, and growing a seasonal garden.
Sadler said, “I like to keep busy. I guess that’s the most important thing to do because I don’t like to just sit around. I get out and work in my garden, and I do all of my own weed eating. I have two daughters who come over on the weekends, or I drive over and visit them, or one of my stepchildren.”
Though Sadler has a positive outlook on life and doesn’t let her circumstances weigh her down, she has buried two husbands. She lost her first husband, Lorenzo Conner, when he was barely 50 years old. They were married for 19 years. After 31 years of marriage, her second husband, Preston Sadler, was diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer in 2007. Doctors gave him two weeks to live, but with chemotherapy and radiation treatments, Preston lived for nine months.
“Losing both of my husbands and my parents have been my biggest hardships,” said Sadler. “I have been a healthy person, and I’ve been blessed with good health. I plan to keep working until I can’t do it anymore. As long as I am able to go, I am going to keep showing up. I really like the schedule, especially being off in the summer and on holidays. Carolyn Alford is a great manager. She is very kind and has been very good to me. She treats me special. I don’t have to do any heavy lifting or deal with the freezer.”
Sadler is currently attending Wartrace Methodist Church and said, “I have tried to be honest and do what I am supposed to do. I have tried to always be friendly and to help others anytime I can.” GN
