The Kisses to Cancer 5K is an annual event hosted during Wilkes University Homecoming Weekend and is devoted to raising breast cancer awareness and honoring Candice Adams Ismirle Born to Michael Andrew Adams, a veteran, and Sandra Lee Siglin Adams, she spent much of her life moving around. Her parents were residents of the Poconos, so it is fitting that her memory, impart, lives on here in Northea
stern PA, where her parents met, and thereby, her story started. Major Adams Ismirle began her life at the Travis Air Force Base, coming into the world surrounded by people and a cause that she would devote her entire life to. Adams Ismirle attended our very own Wilkes University as an ROTC cadet from 1999 to 2003. Kyla Campbell, Candice’s best friend, and fellow Wilkes 2003 grad described Ismirle’s spirit as dauntless and that “she never threw in the towel, ever.” This determination was reflected in her military career, family life, and her battle with breast cancer. Adams Ismirle was born into a military family and chose to continue the tradition as an Air Force officer. She went to college to study communications, a tough enough feat as is, as well as participate in Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, and multiple sports simultaneously. Succeeding all at once is a true testament to her drive, dedication, and love of service. When she graduated from Wilkes University in 2003, she commissioned into the Air Force as a Second Lieutenant serving as a public affairs officer. In 2005, while working on her first assignment at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma, she was promoted to deputy director of public affairs and named the Air Force Materiel Command’s Outstanding Public Affairs Company Grade Officer of the Year. Shortly after, in 2006, she was reassigned to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) in Alaska where she worked in the Headquarters Alaska Command (ALOM) as deputy director of public affairs. She once again went above and beyond. While in Alaska, then Adams, went above and beyond the call of duty. She led public affairs planning, coordinated media coverage for the first U.S. fighter plane interception of the first Russian bomber aircraft since the end of the cold war, won the ALOM Company Grade Officer of the Year Award two years in a row, and was the driving force behind her office winning the Brig. General Harry Dalton Award for public affairs communication excellence in 2007. In addition to all that, she created the pacific Air Forces’ number one media program and was pivotal in the wing’s immediate response after the commander completed su***de. Ismirle guided follow-up news coverage and coordinated the coverage of the memorial service for her fallen wingman. Because of all her tireless work at the JBER, her team won the PACAF’S Best Overall Communication Program and Best Crisis Communication Program for 2008. It was while she was stationed in Alaska in January of 2008 that Candice Adams met her future husband, pilot Ryan Ismirle. They met at an officer training school in Alabama, where she was immediately impressed. An article in the Washing Post quotes Adams Ismirle stating, “... He was crazy attractive… But I was really impressed with his ability to interact with people.” After their initial interaction of only eight weeks, the two stayed in touch despite the distance: Adams in Alaska and Ismirle in Europe. Ismirle was uninterested in the club and dating scene of Europe, a thing he cites as helping him figure out that Candice Adams was the one for him. When Ryan was stateside again in December of 2008, the two met up in D.C for a romantic weekend and decided they were committed to each other. After the completion of his European tour, Ryan was sent to Afghanistan. Candice was known to hop on planes carrying equipment just to spend a few hours with her partner. Candice was eventually moved to Fort Meade Maryland, making it sustainably easier to get away with her pilot on the weekends after he returned home. It was on such a weekend getaway to Venice in 2010 that Ismirle proposed. Five months later, Adams Ismirle discovered a lump in her breast. On October 25, 2010, her doctors told her it was a particularly aggressive type of breast cancer. Triple-negative breast cancer doesn’t have any of the receptors commonly found in breast cancer, making it more difficult to predict and fight. By January, Ryan had transferred to the Pentagon to support Candice through nearly five months of chemotherapy. During this time, she not only continued to serve but worked tirelessly with fellow Airman Russ Scalf to help produce a documentary, Pink Kisses: Cancer My Way, to raise awareness, all while undergoing treatment for her cancer and continuing to provide high-quality public affairs instruction. By May 2011, Candice had lost her hair and underwent a double mastectomy but was declared cancer-free in 2012. Overjoyed, the lovebirds rushed to plan a wedding and placed an offer on a Capitol Hill rowhouse. On June 2nd, they were married. Sadly, Candice’s cancer came back in 2013. Her second diagnosis was more severe than her first. This caused her to transfer out of her more active public relations jobs to a desk job as the press operations officer at the Pentagon until she medically retired in 2015. None of this stopped the Ismirles’ desire and determination to have children. After three miscarriages, they decided to try surrogacy, as Candice preserved eggs prior to undergoing chemotherapy. Candice and Ryan welcomed their twin boys, Rafe and Ryder, into the world in November 2015. Upon Candice Adams Ismirle’s passing in February 2016, she instructed her husband Ryan to raise them to be patriotic, know the national anthem, respect the flag, and honor family traditions. Candice was honored with a missing man flyover at her funeral at Arlington National Cemetery, and in April of 2016, her former ROTC detachment dedicated their lounge in her memory with both her parents and husband in attendance. Candice Adams Ismirle should be an inspiration to us all. She fought for her country and against cancer with poise and selflessness rarely seen in this world. Her memory lives on through her sons and all those she connected with in her life.
