Family Turns Tragedy Into Positive Energy

In the 20 months since Wind Point resident Jonathan Kwiatkowski was fatally stabbed outside his home, his family and friends have poured their effort into making sure his memory lives on. 

But it's not just his memory that they want to preserve, it's his positive outlook, and the impact he hoped to have on his community and the world. 

Taking as their starting point Jonathan Kwiatkowski's mantra, "Heads up. Hearts up. Hopes up," the last message Jonathan Kwiatkowski posted on Facebook, family and friends have hosted blood drives and poker runs, marched in the Fourth of July parade, and held memorial services. This year, the family also started a scholarship in Jonathan Kwiatkowski's name. The Jonathan Kwiatkowski Memorial Fund awards scholarships to young adults who have lost a family member or friend and want to make a positive difference in their communities. 

As these things happened, they also saw neighbor 

During Forester-Hoare's May trial, law enforcement officers and Kwiatkowski's family members told jurors what they saw that night: That Forester-Hoare came to the Kwiatkowski family's home, and after threatening several of them, fatally stabbed 21-year-old Jonathan Kwiatkowski. They described the scene, including the where Kwiatkowski died. 

Following his conviction, Forester-Hoare was sentenced to life in prison. 

The Kwiatkowski family faced another challenge this year, when a neighborhood man objected to a memorial garden planted in the right-of-way.

The man filed a formal complaint with the Village of Wind Point, asking officials to intervene. The man said the memorial was too painful for him to look at, because he and his roommate had suffered a similar loss years ago. Community members supported the Kwiatkowski family's memorial, and the complaint was soon dropped. In a letter to the village, the man said changes the Kwiatkowski family made to the memorial led him to withdraw the complaint.