Stormtrooper walks 645 miles to Comic-Con for charity

A Star Wars fan dressed in a Stormtrooper costume is walking 645 miles down the California coast toward Comic-Con in honor of his late wife.

Kevin Doyle of Minnesota described his wife Eileen as "a self-proclaimed geek," and says the two artists shared a mutual love for Star Wars. The two artists often traveled together to comic book shows dressed as Stormtroopers, where Eileen and her artwork were popular among fellow artists and fans.

Introduced to each other by mutual friends, Kevin and Eileen were wed in their backyard garden in October of 2010.

"R2-D2 was our ring bearer," Doyle told ABC affiliate KGTV.

But their fairytale life, as Kevin describes it, was torn apart in Oct. 2011 when Eileen, who had previously battled pancreatic cancer, found out the cancer had returned.

Doyle, 57, said on his fundraising page that their hope and faith was challenged for 13 months until on Nov. 7, Eileen finally lost her battle to cancer. She was 45.

"From that day forward the sun does not rise for me, everyday is November the 7th, my candle has burned out," wrote Doyle. "Eileen was the most amazing person I ever knew, she was so beautiful, so thoughtful and she was loved by everyone who knew her."

To honor the memory of his wife, Doyle created the nonprofit foundation Eileen's Little Angels, which provides gift bags to children undergoing chemotherapy. Now, Doyle is marching 645 miles down the California coast in his Stormtrooper armor to raise money for the organization.

"My walk will begin from the world famous Star Wars museum Rancho Obi-Wan in Petaluma, California just north of San Francisco and finish up in San Diego at Comic Con on July 9th," wrote Doyle on the Crowd Rise page.

Doyle told KGTV that he hopes the walk to be "a cleansing," and asks that donations be made to the "501 Mile Walk" crowdfunding page.

"I can just hear her say, 'you're such a dork,' but she's a self-proclaimed geek," said Doyle.