Memorial

Willow Diane-Christine Charnowski passed away unexpectedly on Saturday September 30th at the age of 4.

Willow came wild into this world on March 5th, 2019.    As she grew older so did her love for the outdoors and adventure.  Willow was a thrill seeker who loved the cabin life at Papa’s Cabin.  She loved the wind in her air and enjoyed rides on the Harley.   Willow loved her dresses, but also loved to get her dresses dirty.  She loved her diggers and dinosaurs.  Some of her favorite activities included swimming, riding rides at the sweet corn festival, saving bugs, fishing, and howling at the moon.  She loved suckers, especially green suckers.  She loved all animals and loved finding frogs and catching them.  She always looked forward to time at Amy’s beach and to Hawkeye Games.  She enjoyed reading and would always ask for one more book.  One of her favorite characters was Peppa Pig.  She enjoyed reading so much that at a get together for a Hawkeye game she put books on all the chairs so that each guest would have to read her a story before the game.  One of her favorite foods was mac and cheese.  So much so that she nicknamed her mom Mac & Chelle.  Willow was incredibly smart and loved making new friends.  She had recently started preschool and was excited to attend daily.  She was a girl who knew what she wanted and always had a way to get what she wanted.  Because of this she was nicknamed Boss Baby.  

Our Family was not expecting the loss of Willow or for her life to be cut so short so soon.  We are devastated by this loss and will feel the absence of Willow forever.  She was the most loving and most curious soul and a joy to be around.  She will be missed forever.

Willow is preceded in death by her grandma Diane, her grandpa Harold, her grandma Leeanna, Grandpa Jerry and her dogs Crash and Vedette.  

Willow will always be remembered by her grandfather Papa John, her parents Rochelle and Sierra, her sister Natasha, her brothers Matthew and Jaxon, and her dogs KC and Herky, as well as her God Parents Jonathan and Heather, and their children Chloe and Liam, and many close friends and family that all adored Willow.

Visitation will be held at Cedar Memorial Park Funeral Home on Friday October 6th from 4-7pm and a Funeral Service will be held on Saturday October 7th at Cedar Memorial Chapel of Memories at 1pm.  

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to a local animal shelter, as Willow loved all animals.  You could also make a donation to the family into Willow’s account at Cedar Rapids Bank and Trust.  The family is requesting that no one wear black, they would like you to wear something colorful in memory of Willow.