Honey Boo Boo and Mama June Share How They Honor Late Anna 'Chickadee' Cardwell After Her Tragic Death

Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson and June “Mama June” Shannon opened up about how they keep Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell's memory alive more than a year after her tragic death.

Cardwell passed away at 29 in December 2023 after a courageous battle with cancer.

“We talk about her every day,” Mama June, 45, shared with a news outlet.

Honey Boo Boo, 19, emphasized that "every little thing we do honors her. Just, like, me being in nursing school, like, honors her 'cause that's what she wanted for me. And I mean, we all have her in our house and we have pictures of her."

"I feel like everything reminds me of her. Like, I'll just look at a green wall and I'm like, 'OK,'" Alana revealed, noting the significance of the color army green, which Anna adored. "Her little urn, or whatever, is sitting, like, on the green wall. I'm like, 'Anna, you look beautiful.'"

Mama June pointed out that Honey Boo Boo and Chickadee shared a birthday on August 28, deepening the connection they feel to her. "People don't realize that either," she said. "That's another thing, you know?"

"When you walk into my house and the new house, you see her right there at the front door," Mama June explained about the decor plans for her new home. "And we're gonna make, like, a picture wall of, like, all pictures throughout the year of her and the kids and everybody."

Remembering Chickadee is especially vital for Mama June since her daughter Kaitlyn, 12, currently lives with her and husband Justin Stroud. "It is very hard to even, like, try and look back on pictures of, like, when she was younger," Honey Boo Boo admitted.

"When she first had Kaitlyn and stuff. But I do think it's good, like, sometimes when we sit around and, like, do it with Kaitlyn because … it's just showing her the memories that she does have with her mom," the matriarch said.

Following Chickadee's passing, Mama June faced a legal battle with Michael Cardwell, Anna's ex-husband, for custody of Kaitlyn. Initially living with June and Justin, Michael later filed for primary custody. In September 2024, a Georgia judge ruled that June would retain primary custody of Kaitlyn.