On November 8th, longtime Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek passed away at the age of 80. The well-known game show host had been battling stage-4 pancreatic cancer for nearly two years.
He hosted the popular game show, which featured contestants giving answers in the form of questions after clues were revealed on the board.
In addition to the too-soon-to-answer questions about his Jeopardy! hosting replacement, his passing has raised questions about who Alex Trebek’s wife is, and if he has any surviving family.
The late game show host was married at the time of his passing to Jean Currivan Trebek, and the couple also has several children.
Alex Trebek married twice, he is survived by his wife and children
Alex Trebek was born in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, on July 22, 1940.
He married his first wife, Elaine Kares, in 1974, but they divorced after seven years of marriage.
In 1990, Trebek married again, this time to Jean Currivan. There was a 24-year age gap between them but their chemistry was clear when they met in 1988 at a party in New York.
Trebek never had any children with his first wife, Elaine, but he did adopt her daughter Nicky after they became married. According to Closer Weekly, she worked with Alex on Jeopardy!, is a singer/songwriter, and enjoys designing clothes for her own fashion brand.
Alex is survived by two children whom he and Jean Currivan Trebek had together, their 30-year-old son, Matthew Trebek, and 27-year-old daughter, Emily Trebek.
Matthew is a restaurateur who co-owns a Mexican restaurant called Oso in New York City; while Emily is a real estate agent in California.
Who is Jean Currivan Trebek?
Jean Currivan Trebek managed to avoid the spotlight for the majority of the couple’s marriage. However, she became better known after her husband’s pancreatic diagnosis was announced in March 2019.
he was born on September 3, 1970, and is now 57.
She graduated from Harborfields High School in Greenlawn, New York, in 1992, and according to one report, she previously worked as a real estate project manager.
According to a Newsweek report, Jean is now a professional sound healer, Reiki Master, and Religious Science practitioner. She was raised Catholic and became a member of the North Hollywood Church of Religious Science (NHCRS) 12 years ago.
Jean has been a practitioner with InsideWink for 10 years. She also served on their board, and is the head of the NHCRS film society. The film society shows uplifting films and conducts a discussion of the material after the screening.
However, despite having her healing background and professional background, she admitted that she felt rather helpless during Alex’s struggle.
Earlier this year, during the ABC special, What is Jeopardy!? Alex Trebek and America’s Most Popular Quiz Show, Jean admitted that from her perspective the hardest part of Alex’s fight with cancer was seeing him “in pain” and the fact that she “can’t help him”.
She also told Michael Strahan how there were times she wanted her husband to take a break from Jeopardy!. However, she said Alex continuing with his job during his battle with cancer, allowed him to have a “sense of purpose”.
Due to her profession and background, Jean also mentioned how she was able to keep the family uplifted, including her and her husband.
“It comes from a place of love, because I want to uplift him. And when I keep my own self buoyed and enjoying my life, I can actually share that with him. He can look at me and have a sense of ‘life is beautiful, my wife is doing something good’,” Jean Currivan Trebek told SurvivorNet in November 2019.
Trebek admitted in a People magazine interview in 2019 that he regretted one thing about his marriage to Jean. He wished he met his wife sooner so they “could have had a longer life together.”
“But my wife Jean and I have been together almost 29 years, and I was thinking about President [George H. W.] 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,” Trebek told People.
This past June, Trebek and his wife, Jean, contributed a $500,000 donation to Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission, which is a local homeless outreach organization. That money was said to go towards building a new homeless shelter in San Fernando Valley.
The couple had donated $100,000 once before to help build a separate construction in North Hollywood. According to GMA’s report, the largest room in that building was named the Alex and Jean Trebek Multi-Purpose Room.
Sunday’s loss will hit many people hard. Alex Trebek’s friends, family, and fans will be mourning the loss of a great individual who impacted many people through his entertaining, informative, and generous nature.
Based on her background, Jean will likely continue her, and her late husband’s generosity in helping others to ensure that his legacy will not be forgotten.