Earlier this month we learned the bittersweet story of Cindy Stowell. She was a 41-year-old woman battling stage IV cancer. Committed to still living a fulfilling life and pursuing her dreams up until the very end, Stowell became a contestant on Jeopardy!. Supported by her boyfriend, Jason Hess, and often relying on painkillers to make it through the tapings. For one episode in particular, she competed with a high fever. She ended up a six-episode champion and won $105,803, which she committed to donating to charity.
On December 5, one week before her episodes were set to begin airing, Stowell passed away. Hess broke the news that cancer had just taken “the best friend, partner and pub trivia teammate a guy could ask for.”
Immediately following her death, Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek gave a statement to the New York Post offering his condolences. But on Wednesday night, Trebek took a moment at the end of the episode to pay his respects to Stowell on air. He called her appearance "the fulfillment of a life-long ambition." You can watch the touching memorial below.
Alex Trebek pays his respect to Cindy Stowell. #Jeopardy pic.twitter.com/s0pYT5z7iX
— Erick Fernandez (@ErickFernandez) December 22, 2016