Linda Marlene Stabler

Affectionately known as “Sowellie” for most of her ice skating career, Linda was born in Seattle, Washington at Maynard Hospital to Norma and Harold Sowell. She grew up enjoying the camaraderie of a large figure skating community, along with her loving cousins, Tim and Kristi, who still reside in Seattle.

Linda learned to skate at a very young age, benefiting from the opportunity to spend countless hours at the Ballard Ice Arena, where her father Harold worked. He brought her there to take lessons from Jim Stephens, whose wife Dorothy Stephens, performed in the Ice Capades. They were a pair and major inspiring force in Seattle at the time. Harold took Linda to see the Ice Capades when she was young. How many ice skating careers start this way?

Harold Sowell later sold their home and orchard to buy into the new Highland Ice Arena as one of the partners. Harold was very proud of Linda as her talents, good sportsmanship and athletic prowess developed. I’m told they were very similar. How? Fun loving. Not opposed to a bit of mischievous fun, they were always upbeat.

Tribute to Linda, your stepson Jeff

I met Linda in Reno, Nevada. I was ten. She later became my stepmom. My Dad, Ben, was the musical conductor for Holiday on Ice, while Linda rose through the ranks to become line captain, and later Performance Director. I spent my youth traveling to visit Dad and Linda whenever I had vacation time. I benefitted hugely from those experiences. I learned German, inspired by getting to know German skaters and stagehands, including the German National Pair champions, Almut and Herbert. I learned Spanish by getting to visit the show when it played Mexico City.

Dad and Linda even arranged for me to have skating lessons from Canadian national champion Jay Humphry, and from Olympic Silver medalist Tim Wood, when I traveled with the show in 5th and 7th grades. How cool is that?!

I remain friends with a very hip ice show electrician, Jinx. I got to hang out in the spotlight cages; there were 8 or 10 of them. Each spotlight operator wore a headset and a voice was directing each of them where to point their spotlight, when to go “all blue”, or back to white, and when to use special effects. It was like they were listening to an air traffic controller.

I never tired of watching Linda chase and catch the pinwheel, along with 31 other glamorous, attractive, athletic, “chorus girls”. They put on an impressive display of precision skating. They executed fast directional changes, deep edges, rapid stops, all timed to the music. They would suddenly break into sets of four, six or eight skaters, then came back together to perform perfectly choreographed “Rockette-style” kicking all the way from the curtains to the front edge of the ice rink. That’s why the front row seats were good to get!

Linda was one of the shorter, more powerful skaters, and therefore she was the last one, on one side, to run to catch the pinwheel. I am honored to still be friends with the skater at the other side. One time it was Linda, (a/k/a Madame) and another, Terrianne. The last skaters had to skate especially …FAST and under intense pressure…everybody was watching…to catch that wheel. They had the whole audience engaged, wondering if they could do it before the music came to an end.

My Dad, directing the band, always carried a drummer on tour, to complement local musicians hired in each town. He and the drummer were always observing the skaters to ensure the music matched the action. When the music stopped, so did the chorus line, and the crowd went wild. It was always a crowd-pleaser, and was often the closing act of the show.

Linda was always kind to me, and revered and respected by her skating colleagues. If I were to emphasize one set of Linda-traits, it would be her take-charge attitude and commitment to excellence, while not overlooking the human element and the value of a superbly timed sense of humor to provide “shock absorbers” to soften challenges of life on the road.

Linda wanted others to perform to high standards, but on a personal level, she wanted them to achieve their own potential. I am, to this day, learning more about how many people Linda touched with her unique mix of seriousness and sense of humor.

Holiday on Ice merged with the Ice Follies for the 1980/1981 show. They toured most of the year, visiting large and small cities alike for a single week. There was typically one show on Tuesday, which was opening night, often with local publicity and a local celebrity. There was another show on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, with three shows on Saturday and two on Sunday.

The “day off”, Monday, was travel day. Larger engagements included Madison Square Garden, Quebec City, Los Angeles at the Forum and a full month in Mexico City.

“What is a six-pack?” That was when they were scheduled to perform 3 shows on Saturday, and then back up early for 3 more shows on Sunday. That’s a six-pack! So much for the glamour of the road. It was glamorous, but rigorous too. Show business is hard work, and the skaters worked hard.

The costumes were dazzling as well, and to believe these performers were doing all that on ice. Fast, yet extravagant wardrobe changes were required, (thank you Frank and Roger) yet it looked so easy from the audience view. One almost had to see a fall (oh yes, it did happen), in order to appreciate just how difficult the skating tricks were, and how much individual and team coordination was required. When athletes are truly talented, the easier they make it look.

After a few well-deserved weeks off, the company would regroup in Knoxville, Tennessee to build the show for the following year.

After continuing to tour with Disney on Ice, which became the successor to the more traditional Holiday on Ice, Ice Follies and Ice Capades format, Linda and Dad retired to Phoenix, Arizona. Linda continued to skate and coach at several of the ice rinks in the Valley for many years. We lost Benny Stabler (Dad) in 2000. He loved Linda very much.

My memories of Linda will always include:

• Excellent penmanship. That is, her consistently cool handwriting, in cursive. Her printing was always neat too.

• Organized! “There is a place for everything, and everything has its place.”

• Linda read a lot. Linda did not go to college, but she was far more intelligent and educated than many others from the most elite schools. Not just common sense, ….she had common sense….but she was genuinely smart too.

• Stress? Boy she sure got some practice. Her view would be, “That’s life. Suck it up. May I get you a straw?”

• My favorite Linda answer to tough questions: “It is and it isn’t.”

• Linda could communicate with her hands and had some very fun facial expressions. If you know Linda, you know what I mean.

Later, Linda was able to find a wonderful boyfriend companion, Ellsworth, whom she met …..where else…at the rink! I’m told that the younger skaters at that rink were gossiping, “Did you see that? – Were they actually flirting?!” I am happy they found each other. Ells’ adult children and extended family, including Kirsten and Randy, befriended Linda and are wonderful people. I am pleased to have met them. Sadly, Ells passed not that long ago.

Linda fought a rapid battle with cancer, and passed at one of the most caring hospice facilities in the Phoenix area. She had many skating friends and family visit, and she maintained her sense of humor and tough attitude until the very end.

A Celebration of Life is being planned for late October, 2025.

I found this newspaper clipping on one of Linda’s corkboards, mostly hidden by other pictures. Did somebody give it to her? Or perhaps this is her message to us….

*** I'll Always Love You ***

To those people in my life I would like to say, Time has grown shorter for me each passing day.

To all of you people, I do want you to know. That I will be thinking of you when it's my time to go

From each of you I have many memories, these memories I will be taking with me. So when my time

Comes please don't cry, think of these memories And say goodbye. When you think of me try not to be

Sad, think about the good times we have had. I hope that on your face there will always be, the

Biggest smile ever when you think of me. I hope these memories of me stay in your mind, and that

Love and happiness each of you find. Above all this I am leaving you my love, as I am going to be

Watching over you from above.

(Thanks to all of you that have been in my life.)

by Gordon Newton