Anna 'Chickadee' Cardwell's Loved Ones Come Together to Celebrate Her Life at Emotional Funeral Service
Cardwell died on Saturday at age 29 following a stage 4 cancer diagnosis in January
Anna "Chickadee" Cardwell’s loved ones gathered for her funeral on Wednesday.
Cardwell’s friends and family were seen arriving at the Williams-White Columns Funeral Home in Gordon, Georgia, for the public visitation and private service, which PEOPLE was invited to attend. Her entire family greeted guests in the small room of the funeral home, where attendees were prohibited from bringing in their cell phones.
There was a photo of Cardwell in a pink shirt in the middle of the room. Additionally, a slideshow of pictures of the family together played. One of the images featured the family at Mama June Shannon's wedding to Justin Stroud.
Roughly 70 people were in attendance for the emotional service, including crew members from the family's hit reality series. However, the staffers attended as guests and were not filming the service for the show.
Cardwell's sister Lauryn "Pumpkin" Efird told PEOPLE that the family is “doing as best as they can” and while Anna's favorite singer, country star Cooper Alan, wasn't able to attend he still made a special video for the solemn occasion.
She also emphasized to PEOPLE how Stroud was the "biggest rock" of her family, especially while Cardwell was in hospice care, noting that he "carried 90% of the weight" during that difficult time. Efird said this allowed for Shannon to focus on being a mom and to mourn and spend time with her, while Stroud helped with providing medicine, running errands and being there "for her and everybody else."
"Because he’s not blood, it was even that much more amazing how he really just stepped up and [showed us] what a good person he is," Efird said.
Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson told PEOPLE that her sister's death felt "surreal" and she was "still processing." She also agreed with Efird that Stroud had been a huge help, saying: "I mean, he’s not even blood but he was doing everything."
During the service, guests shared their favorite memories of Cardwell and agreed that she "had spunk until the very last moment." A friend who she met working at Walmart said Cardwell was always full of life and did whatever she wanted because she didn’t care what people thought.
When Efird spoke, she emphasized how Cardwell loved her two daughters, her husband Eldridge Toney, and cooking chicken and dumplings with biscuits and spaghetti for everyone. She grew emotional as she questioned how their family moves on after her death.
The service also featured Cardwell's loved ones briefly performing something she loved: the "Tina dance", which was a signature move of Bob’s Burgers character Tina Belcher. At one point, Shannon encouraged the audience to stand up and performed the dance in honor of Cardwell.
Additionally, a program that was handed out at the service featured a photo of Cardwell and the phrases "forever in our hearts" and "we're gonna miss you" written beside it. There was also a poem titled "Broken Chain" on the program, which detailed a family's grief after a loved one's death but notes how the "family chain" will "link again" in the future as "God calls us one by one."
Anna Cardwell Facebook
Anna Cardwell and her kids, Kaitlyn and Kylee.Cardwell — who starred alongside her family in Toddlers & Tiaras and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo — died Saturday at the age of 29. Mama June confirmed the news in an Instagram post the following day.
"With the breaking heart, we are announcing that @annamarie35 is no longer with us. She passed away in my home last night peacefully at 11:12 PM," Shannon, 44, wrote next to a family photograph. The family matriarch noted that Cardwell "passed away with her family around her" and thanked fans for their "continued prayers and thoughts."
On Monday, Shannon shared details of the funeral arrangements on social media and promised to honor her daughter's life before her stage 4 adrenal carcinoma diagnosis in January.
In the video, the reality star noted the family planned to honor Cardwell — who was mother to two girls: Kaitlyn Elizabeth, born in 2012, and Kylee Madison, born in 2015 — by doing something she loved at her funeral: "the Tina dance."
"Her ceremony will be a short, but amazing service with so many of her songs. And we're doing something for her, which is going to be the Tina dance with her as one of her last things, because as all y'all know that bitch loved to do the Tina dance," said the Mama June: Road to Redemption star.
Shannon also shared there would be a public visitation so fans could say goodbye to the reality star prior to the service because “Anna would not want it to be any other way."
The same day, Thompson shared a heartbreaking TikTok video that featured photos of her late sister and their family as a rendition of Benson Boone's "In The Stars" played in the background.
Before the photos appeared, a black screen shared a line from the song's lyrics: "I don't wanna say goodbye 'cause this one means forever." Thompson added in the caption, "How am I even going to celebrate our birthday now 🥺🥺🥺💔."
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In another tribute, Thompson wrote of her sister: "Anna was in so much pain last night but now as a family we all know she is at peace now. I really don’t know what to say as my heart is completely broken."
"Watching my 29 year old sister this last year battle this horrible disease hasn’t been easy. Anna was a fighter & still is. Lord please wrap your arms around her 2 babies & our family as the next couple of days will make this all a reality 🥹," she wrote. "I’m so glad that you waited til I was home to take your last breath! I would’ve loved for you to get to see me graduate college but I know you will forever cheer me on in heaven!"
"We will all make sure your legacy lives on forever," she concluded. "And I promise to always make sure to celebrate our birthday like you never left! The sky looks a little bit different today. We will always love you Anna 💔. You hit me hard with his one Anna but I know your in a better place now and pain free forever!"
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