Tragic Details About Mike Wolfe's Ex-Wife Jodi Faeth

For years, Jodi Faeth stood by "American Pickers" star Mike Wolfe's side as he traversed the United States hunting for valuable antique treasure among piles of rusted junk. While Wolfe was on the road, Faeth stayed home to provide a stable life for their little girl, Charlie, whom they welcomed in early 2012. As Wolfe and his longtime-friend and co-star Frank Fritz developed their business and their hit TV show — and eventually had a very public falling out – Faeth dealt with challenging health struggles and bravely carried on keeping the family together.

Many people came to know Faeth only after her marriage to Wolfe came to a surprising end. In November 2020, Faeth filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences and bringing their marriage of eight years — and relationship of 36 years -– to an unfortunate conclusion. The crumbling of Faeth's marriage, however, was sadly just the latest in a long line of challenges, tragedies, and set-backs that she's had to overcome in the past few decades.

Just a year after Faeth gave birth to their daughter, the devoted mom was diagnosed with stage 2 non-Hodgkin lymphoma after living a conscientious lifestyle she believed would keep her healthy. As Faeth shared with The Glow back in 2015: "Believe it or not, even vegan, exercising, juicing mamas get cancer. I was the last one to expect it. Life was everything I could possibly dream of then bam!" Thankfully, Faeth battled through and her cancer went into remission in May 2015. All along, her young daughter served as a source of motivation, and Faeth made sure to return the favor by being her daughter's biggest champion.

Jodi Faeth was overjoyed to welcome her baby girl into her life in January 2012, but she and her famous husband, Mike Wolfe, were devastated to learn that Charlie was born with a cleft lip and a cleft palate. This particular birth anomaly can be incredibly difficult for children, both with regard to their health and their enjoyment of life in the future. "Feeding is usually the biggest issue for babies born with clefts. She lost weight right off the bat," Faeth recalled while speaking with The Glow. "We had two surgeries the first year she was born. Those were tough... We realize how fortunate we are that we had the resources to get Charlie the best doctors."

Through the experience, Faeth came to understand how lucky her family was, and she and Wolfe became ambassadors for Operation Smile, a nonprofit group aimed at getting children born with clefts the medical treatment they need, all across the globe, in places where the same access to resources might not exist. "Charlie inspires us to be better people, and through this I hope the three of us can make a difference," she shared at the time.

Since Faeth and Wolfe first sparked a romance in 1994, through them tying the knot, and over the course of many years as the primary caretaker for their daughter, Faeth has triumphed over her tragedies and the obstacles in her path. Whether it was the isolation of having a husband on the road, the emotional pain of having a daughter with a concerning medical condition, her own health challenges, or a painful and public divorce, Faeth has weathered the storms.