Ann Reynolds Carden, 58, of Westfield, New York, passed away on Thursday, May 4, 2017, following a lengthy battle with cancer.

Born Dec. 15, 1958, in Martinsburg, West Virginia, she was the daughter of the late Thomas Guy Reynolds Jr. and Pearl Ennis Reynolds. She was a member of the 1976 class of Martinsburg High School and graduated from West Virginia University in 1980 with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism. She later obtained a master’s degree in public relations management from Buffalo State College.

Her broadcasting career began at WRNR in Martinsburg, where she served as news director. In 1982, she moved to Buffalo, New York, to become a news anchor at WEBR all-news radio. She went on to work as an anchor at several other radio stations in the city, before switching to a career in public relations. She worked at several nonprofit health care organizations during the next 16 years, including the VNA Health Care Group, Millard Fillmore Health System, Kaleida Health, and Buffalo Hearing and Speech Center. She also ran her own public relations consulting firm, ARC Communications.

Ann was active in the Public Relations Society of America and held numerous positions for the Buffalo Niagara chapter, including president. She became Accredited in Public Relations in 1991 and was inducted into the PRSA College of Fellows in 2008, becoming only the second practitioner in Western New York chosen for this honor. At the chapter level, she received the Distinguished Service Award, the Practitioner of the Year Award, and numerous Excalibur awards for outstanding public relations programs.

In 2001, she became assistant professor of public relations at The State University of New York at Fredonia, where she helped build the public relations major to one of the best in the state. She was promoted to associate professor in 2013 and was given the President’s Excellence in Teaching and Learning Award in 2017.

Ann is survived by a daughter, Margaret Mary Carden and husband, Kevin Luecke, of Madison, Wisconsin; a son, Stephen Michael Carden of Hauppauge, New York; two stepchildren, Emily Carden Horvath and husband, Paul, of Walled Lake, Michigan, and Christian David Carden and wife, Rebecca, of East Amherst, New York; several grandchildren and step-grandchildren; a sister, Vanda White Stohlman and husband, Robert, of Williamsburg, Virginia; a half-brother, John Thomas Reynolds of Martinsburg; numerous nieces and nephews; and, her primary caregivers, Mary Holl and Joseph Nowak of Angola, New York, and Sarah Britton Cote of Milton, Vermont.

She was preceded in death by her parents and half-brother, Robert Garland Reynolds of St. Pauls, North Carolina.

The family will receive friends at Brown Funeral Home in Martinsburg, on Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. Funeral services will be conducted at 11:00 a.m. Friday, May 12, 2017 at the funeral home with the Rev. Dr. Ken Walker of Trinity United Methodist Church to officiate. Interment will occur at a later date in the Rosedale Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Ann Reynolds Carden Public Relations STAR Scholarship at The State University of New York at Fredonia, c/o Fredonia College Foundation, 272 Central Avenue, Fredonia,NY 14063

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