Obituary of Carole Jean Reeder

Carole Garfield Reeder passed away on April 26th 2025 in Syracuse, NY. She is the daughter of the late Margaret Menter Garfield and Joseph Garfield, & sister of the late Michael Garfield.  She is survived by her children Jonathan (Ruud van Odenhoven) Amsterdam, Netherlands; Daniel (Lisa Cantella) Syracuse; Amy (Jeff Arentson) Atlanta, GA; 4 grandsons Alex, Benjamin, Jacob and Nathan Reeder and one great grand-daughter, Madelynne Reeder. She was predeceased by her husband Bob Reeder in 2018 after 62 years of marriage. 

Carole graduated from Nottingham High School, attended Cornell, graduated from Syracuse University (cum Laude) BA, SUNY Binghamton MSE, & taught special education in Binghamton for 15 years after her children were in school. She belonged to Delta Kappa Phi, was president of Hadassah, was president of Temple Israel Sisterhood, & served on the United Way Campaign. Carole and her husband hosted numerous exchange students and over 40 foster children in their Vestal home. Upon retirement in 1991, Carole and Bob moved to Myrtle Beach SC where they were active in PFLAG, volunteered as docents at Brookgreen Gardens and were volunteer Guardian ad Litem for children in foster care. 

In the summers, Carole and Bob lived in Chautauqua, New York & in 2008 they moved to Chautauqua full-time, becoming active volunteers for the Chautauqua Institution. Carole belonged to the Chautauqua Women’s Club, the Chautauqua Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary and was an officer of The Hebrew Congregation.  

In 2021 Carole moved back to Syracuse, NY and became a resident of The Nottingham Retirement Community. There she enjoyed numerous activities including Bingo, Mahjong and Book Club, all the while growing and nurturing many beautiful friendships. 

Carole treated everyone as family, & cared deeply about her family, her religion, her community & her friends. No one she ever met remained a stranger & all were invited to countless dinners at her home. She was legendary for her endless supply of chocolate chip cookies - she never had an empty cookie jar & never showed up anywhere empty-handed. Carole will be missed and remembered dearly.