Stratford Man, 26, Dies After Hospital Wedding

STRATFORD, CT — Less than three months after marrying the love of his life in a last-minute wedding at Connecticut Children's Medical Center, Jonathan Stephen Sales died Monday. He was 26.

Sales and his wife, Alyssa Griffin, decided to move up their wedding, originally planned for May, after Sales was diagnosed in November with B-cell acute lumphoblastic leukemia and began a 28-day course of chemotherapy during which he was not able to leave the hospital.

"I'm a practical person," Sales told the hospital at the time. "I started thinking about all parts of the disease. I'm here to get better. But I also know I'm sick and things could happen. I don't want to wait to be married to Alyssa."

Sales's recent battle with cancer was not his first. At age 13, he was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia and received chemotherapy, a bone marrow transplant and radiation, missing months of school. His teachers tutored him at home, inspiring him to become a teacher too, according to the hospital.

Sales and Griffin were together for seven years, having met while working as counselors at the same summer camp, when they wed in front of 75 loved ones and hospital staff.

"Anybody getting married gets lost sometimes as to the purpose of a wedding," Griffin said to the hospital. "You get stuck on, 'What if the napkins don't match?', when the point of the day is to get married. The only really important piece is that when you walk down the aisle, the person you love is at the end."

Sales was surrounded by his wife and family when he died.

He was born Aug. 11, 1993, in Danbury to mother Loree D’Amato and father Stephen Sales, his obituary said. He attended Nonnewaug High School before getting his bachelor’s degree in biology from Western Connecticut State University.

Sales was a devoted teacher and shared his love for science with his students at Swift Middle School in Watertown, according to his obituary. He enjoyed reading, video games, spending time with his cats and anything science. Most of all he loved spending time with his wife and family.

He is survived by his wife Alyssa Griffin, father Stephen Sales and wife Lisa, mother Loree D’Amato and husband Chris, sister Nicole Sales, grandfather Kenneth Farabaugh, mother-in-law Maura Yerger, and father-in-law John Yerger.

A celebration of life will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 14 at the Woodbury Middle School cafeteria.

Sales asked that memorial contributions be sent to the Connecticut Children’s Foundation or Make-A-Wish Foundation in lieu of flowers. To leave an online condolence, visit www.munsonloveterefuneralhome.com.