Former KITV reporter Sandi Carney has lived overseas for over 25 years but still enjoys coming back to the islands. This month we look back on her years spent here and why she keeps returning to her “spiritual home” of Hawaii.

Carney was born at Howard AFB in the Panama Canal Zone. When she was just a year old, her family moved to Istanbul, Turkey. Her high school years were spent in Seville, Spain. Living in different places around the world at such a young age, Carney learned how to both respect and appreciate her surroundings. “I learned to adapt and be more accepting of things,” she said.

Though Carney was editor of her school newspaper and yearbook, she was drawn to television because of the visual aspect. “I always liked video and loved seeing things move. Film can capture the essence of a story,” said Carney.

While attending journalism school in Missouri, she had a summer internship at the NBC affiliate WLWT in Cincinnati. She broke new ground at WLWT by becoming the first on-air female reporter. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism, majoring in TV-radio, from the University of Missouri in 1971.

After graduation she decided to pursue a master’s degree in American studies. In 1971 only a handful of U.S. colleges offered the degree she was seeking: Emory, Georgetown and University of Hawaii.

“Tough call. However, I had cousins living in Honolulu, so opted for Hawaii. It was great having extended family here,” said Carney.

After completing her studies in 1973, Carney was awarded a fellowship at the East-West Center to specialize in Pacific island studies. “The best part of this was the field study — where I spent three months on remote, isolated Niue island (near Samoa and Tonga). In the mid-’70s, small countries around the world were going independent, and Niue was holding an important vote on becoming self-governing from New Zealand. I was the official observer for the South Pacific Commission for the election, and I reported on how the Niue media covered the critical run-up to the vote. I helped hand-deliver copies of the new constitution to all the citizens of the island,” said Carney.

In October 1975, KITV news director Stewart Chiefet hired Carney as a news producer. The following year she began reporting on air for the station. She covered Hawaii island volcano eruptions; produced a minidocumentary, “Singing Giants,” about humpback whales; traveled to the Cook Islands and Christmas Island; and covered the 25th anniversary of statehood.

One story she covered in 1977 remains important to her.

“The story of the Hansen’s disease patients on Molokai is close to my heart. I was astonished at the wealth of Hawaiian history and, with the patients, living history. At that time there was a lot of noise from powerful business interests who wanted Kalaupapa for tourism/golf/ resort development, and none of the politicians and public seemed to care. But what do the surviving patients want? I asked them. And what does such a historic place deserve? A U.S. national park, the patients said. Keep the land protected and the memories sacred of those who died and are buried here. So I aired my reports on Kalaupapa. And suddenly everyone was interested, especially other island media. The politicians got involved, and the national park became a reality. I guess it’s every reporter’s secret dream — to tell a story that makes a difference in people’s lives. Mine has been Kalaupapa,” said Carney.

During her decade at KITV, Carney worked with Don Rockwell, Jack Hawkins and Tim Tindall. She formed a close bond with her female colleagues, Emme Tomimbang and Lynne Waters, with whom she remains close to this day.

Waters credits Carney with helping her as a young reporter in the early 1980s, when she got her start at the station. “Sandi had covered the Hawaiian renaissance in the mid- to late-’70s and was on the court beat when I came in and started on the Hawaiian affairs beat, so a lot of what I knew I learned from her,” Waters said.

In 1984, Carney met her future husband Roger Wadsworth, who is from the United Kingdom. She moved to England the following year and has resided in Kent since 1986.

Carney returns to visit the islands she loves about every four years. When asked what she enjoyed most about living in the islands, she said, “The people and the spirit of the place.”

“With the benefit of age and experience, I consider Hawaii my spiritual home. Like the whales, I migrate but I always come back,” she said.