Terminally Ill 'Halloween' Enthusiast Dies An Hour After Jamie Lee Curtis Officiates Wedding

Nov 25, 2020

In a heartbreaking story from earlier this year, 29-year-old Charleston, South Carolina resident Anthony Woodle lost his battle with cancer just an hour after marrying the love of his life in a wedding ceremony that was officiated by Halloween actress Jamie Lee Curtis.

Anthony Woodle was in love with two things in his life — his girlfriend and Halloween. According to The Charleston Post and Courier, a local paper in Charleston, South Carolina, Woodle and his girlfriend Emilee Stickel were together for eight years after meeting at a Marilyn Manson concert in 2013. And beyond their shared taste in music, Halloween brought the couple closer together.

“He was the holiday itself, walking around,” Stickel told The Post and Courier in November.

Both would dress up and decorate their houses to the nines in preparation for the big holiday, and the young couple seemed to adore Boone Hall Plantation’s Fright Nights, a popular haunted house in the Charleston area.

Woodle — who loved horror movies, worked at a movie theater in the area, and had aspirations to direct his own films some day — even had his own YouTube channel where he would post updates on his life, also known as vlogs, like What We Did On Halloween Night 2018.

Given Woodle’s love for the spooky holiday, you can imagine when the young man proposed to his long-time girlfriend — on his favorite day, Halloween, in 2016. Exactly three years later, doctors diagnosed Woodle with stage IV esophageal cancer.

According to The American Cancer Society, stage IV esophageal cancer is especially difficult to treat because it has spread to distant lymph nodes or to other organs in the body. That means that doctors can’t quite remove the cancer completely, and so surgery is usually not an option. Unfortunately, at this stage, the only thing many patients can do is relieve symptoms and keep the cancer under control.

Paul Brown, the owner of the movie theater where Woodle worked, told reporters that he was amazed how Woodle handled his condition, especially as it worsened in the final year of his life.

“His quiet manner made you think about how you approached issues and challenges,” Brown said in an interview with The Post and Courier. “We learned so much from him during this.”

According to the local paper, doctors treated Woodle with traditional cancer therapies along with targeted radioembolization treatment of his liver. But by late summer, Woodle was terminally ill and receiving palliative care.

Despite his worsening condition, Woodle and Stickel decided to get married on Halloween of that year. As their wedding date neared and Woodle got sicker, the 29-year-old was excited because one of his favorite movie franchises, John Carpenter’s Halloween, would be getting yet another installment in 2021 — director David Gordon Green’s Halloween Kills.

Knowing this, Brown, Woodle’s boss, made a call, as the local paper reports. He called Halloween Kill’s director to see if Woodle might be able to get a sneak peak of the film before it released in 2021. Green was happy to oblige, organizing a private screening for Woodle and his girlfriend. Thanks to Brown’s kind gesture, Woodle would be one of the first people ever to see Halloween Kills, which starred Halloween actress Jamie Lee Curtis.

“That was the most I’ve seen him smile — during and after the movie,” Stickel said in her interview with The Post and Courier.

And then, in another amazing turn of events, Curtis called Woodle directly and said she would be sending him a gift package. Woodle also mentioned that he would be getting married to Stickel soon, and in an incredible gesture of kindness, Curtis offered to officiate the ceremony. They settled on September 13.

On his wedding day, September 13, Woodle’s condition had deteriorated — he was unconscious in bed and surrounded by his family. Curtis, who was on the phone, went ahead with the ceremony anyway.

“Anthony and Emilee, all anyone is promised in this moment,” she said, according to The Post and Courrier. “We live and we love in this moment. May the blessings of God rest upon you, may his peace abide with you, may her spirit illuminate your heart now, in this moment. With the power vested in me by the internet, it is my great pleasure to tell you that you are now married people.”

Around an hour later, Anthony Ryan Woodle had died.

An obituary published in The Charleston Post and Courier read, “Anthony Woodle Charleston - Anthony Ryan Woodle, 29, passed peacefully at his home surrounded by family and his fiancee' Emilee Stickel and her family. Born February 23, 1991 in Charleston, S.C., Anthony was assistant Manager at the Terrace Theater. He was a Halloween enthusiast and loved movies. He was very creative. He decorated his home every Halloween with decorations he made himself. He is survived by his parents, Anita and Steve Woodle, sister, Kristine Woodle, Grandparents Charles Parnelle and Mae Holmes, Jim and Joyce Woodle.”

Rest in peace, Anthony. Please let us know what you think about this incredibly moving story. And pass it on so that everyone knows about Anthony's amazing life.