Last month, the legendary “Jeopardy” host Alex Trebek passed away at the age of 80 following a long battle with pancreatic cancer. On Friday, his beloved widow Jean, who he was married to for thirty years, had to celebrate her first Christmas without him.
“Time is too precious to be spent on anything other than kindness. Many blessings of beauty and joy to you and all you hold dear!” Jean wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of her and Trebek’s adult children, Matthew and Emily.
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After Trebek’s death, Jean had taken to Instagram to share a photo of her and the host’s wedding as she thanked fans for their support.
“My family and I sincerely thank you all for your compassionate messages and generosity,” she wrote in her caption. “Your expressions have truly touched our hearts. Thank you so very, very much. Many Blessings to all, Jean Trebek.”
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Back in January, Trebek reflected on his marriage to Jean in an interview with People Magazine.
“I’m pretty satisfied with my life,” he said at the time. “But my wife Jean and I have been together almost 29 years, and I was thinking about President Bush when he died, and all the comments about his life about what a nice guy he is, and how he and his wife had been together 73 years. I thought, oh my gosh … if I’d just met Jean in my 20s we could have had a longer life together.”
“Jeopardy!” executive producer Mike Richards said that Trebek spent his “peaceful” final day with his wife at home, just as he wanted to.
“He had a nice final day. He was out on his swing that he loved with his wife and surrounded by family,” Richards said. “It was a very peaceful day, there were laughs, and then he went to sleep.”
“If you know Alex, he did everything that perfectly and even his last day was done that perfectly. I just love that he had a nice, a good last day,” he added. “Ultimately, his family came back into town. He was surrounded by everyone and I think he knew that it was his time. He was very at peace with that.”
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