The late Alex Trebek is still hosting new episodes of Jeopardy!, and he will appear as the host of the show until Christmas Day. His death on Sunday, however, has sparked an outpouring of grief and tributes from fans and former contestants who loved the show’s host and the legacy game show he helped create.
Monday brought an on-air tribute to Trebek before the new episode that ran in syndication, the first since his death from pancreatic cancer was made public on Sunday. And later in the week his wife, Jean, also shared a thank you to fans for their tributes in the wake of Trebek’s passing. Jean Trebek posted a message to Instagram on Wednesday along with a wedding photo of her late husband, thanking fans for their support and the kind words that have been shared in the days since he died.
“My family and I sincerely thank you all for your compassionate messages and generosity,” Jean wrote. “Your expressions have truly touched our hearts. Thank you so very, very much.”
Thursday also brought another message from Trebek himself, filmed for a campaign to help children understand the concept of compassion.
On one of Alex’s last days in the studio, he taped this special message about the Compassion Project, a national initiative to teach elementary school kids the meaning of compassion with the #CompassionChallenge. @EVERFI
Learn more here: https://t.co/qOJtURlGv7 pic.twitter.com/BjE2diTHnh
— Jeopardy! (@Jeopardy) November 12, 2020
“We all know that bullying is a problem in our society, and often is in our schools,” Trebek said. “And so is a lack of understanding of others’ situations.”
It’s yet another example of the impact Trebek tried to have both in the community and among the legions of fans who continue to mourn his loss in the trivia and game show community. Trebek will certainly be missed, and whoever takes over for him once his run of new shows is over will certainly have big, compassionate shoes to fill moving forward.
