Lewis Lamont Sadler

Lewis passed away at home on September 22nd, 2026. He was an exceptional husband, cherished father, and proud grandfather, and his absence is deeply felt by all that knew him.

Lewis was born on March 15, 1947 in Hamilton, Ohio to parents Donna M. Winn and Robert L. Sadler. It is hard to describe Lewis to those that did not know him. Simply put, he was multifaceted and gifted. He was a talented artist, as well as a dedicated academic, who was not only a passionate educator, but a dedicated scientific researcher.

From a young age, Lewis’ intelligence and natural gifts were clear, making it no surprise that he pursued advanced degrees. He began his career in higher education in painting and sculpture while earning his Bachelors of Fine Art (BFA) in 1968, before expanding his expertise as a master’s student in Medical and Biological Illustration at the University of Michigan’s Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies. After earning his master’s degree in 1972, he continued to work in academia, building a distinguished career as a professor. He taught for a number of years, encouraging young illustrators at Cornell and The University of Michigan before working in Physical and Biological Anthropology at the University of Texas, Southwestern. He then matriculated to a PhD program in Physical and Biological Anthropology at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) where he would stay for the remainder of his academic career. Over the years at UIC, he served as an associate professor of Bioengineering and a research scientist at the National Center for Super Computer Applications in Urbana, as a Research Associate Professor of Neurosurgery, and as head of the department of Biomedical Visualization. While serving these roles, he published on his research and was nationally recognized for his work.

Lewis’ artistic talents earned him awards for his sculptures and jewelry pieces, and as an illustrator he was a member of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators (GNSI), serving as an executive committee member and a contributing author to The Guild Handbook of Scientific Illustration. While at UIC he combined his artistic skills with his scientific knowledge about facial growth and development and generated accurate age progression portraits of children that had been missing for many years. From this work, he received the 1989 Computerworld Smithsonian award in the category of Government and Nonprofit organizations. An incredibly prestigious award, but one that demonstrated the type of person he truly was; kind, compassionate, and willing to use his skills to help others. The award was for an application he created to improve searches for missing children. The Center for Missing and Exploited Children worked closely with Lewis to use this application to successfully locate missing children who’s advanced age had made them no longer recognizable.

Lewis eventually left academia, but continued working on computer generated biomedical visualizations. He served as the COO of Visible Productions bringing him to Fort Collins in 2000. He eventually started his own company, Ecorche Inc., where he served as the CEO and produced cadaver dissections that could be used to educate future healthcare professionals. Ever the professor.

Although well known for his scholarly pursuits, those that knew him well, knew he was also a tinkerer; one that loved working with his hands. Beyond sculpting and drawing, he enjoyed working on antique cars, crafting with wood, and tending his garden. Lewis passed his passion for art and science down to his children. Lewis enjoyed getting the opportunity to share his love of nature, animals, and hunting with his grandsons, Nolan Siers and Zayne Harding and granddaughters Rhylee Harding and Rowan Pitts. Lewis had a special relationship with his grandkids (and great grandkids) whom he loved dearly.

Lewis is survived by his wife of 57 years, Melissa Sadler; his four children, Sara Tidwell, Heather Sadler, Joshua Sadler, Emily Sadler-Pitts; his four grandchildren; and his younger brother, Robert Sadler.

Although he left us too early, he was deeply loved by his family. They remain grateful to have called him husband, dad, and Poppy. We will always be thankful for the intelligence, curiosity, love, and humor he brought into our lives and will carry that forward in our hearts.