Alex Trebek, the longtime host of “Jeopardy!” who was honored with a stamp this week, had plenty of Postal Service employees among his fans.
Some got to meet him while competing on the TV quiz show.
Rachel Moyer, a technology acquisition program manager in Charlotte, NC, appeared on “Jeopardy!” in 2017, finishing in second place.
“It was interesting to see his personality come through in his interactions with the audience in between taping episodes,” she said.
“The thing I noticed most was his wry sense of humor, which I wasn’t expecting based on his professional onscreen persona.”
Casandra Leffler, an acting administrative assistant at the Pittsburgh Network Distribution Center, met Trebek when her husband, Dave, was a four-day champion in 2019.
“Alex was a very genuine, caring and extremely nice person in addition to being very knowledgeable. He liked to kid the contestants,” she said.
Leffler said that Trebek, who sported a signature mustache for 17 years, complimented her husband’s facial hair, saying: “Dave, that’s quite a mustache you have there. It beats mine hands down.”
Other employees met Trebek in chance encounters.
Madison, OH, Postmaster Darla Brewer and her daughter ran into Trebek at an ice cream shop in Washington, DC.
“My daughter went right up to him and told him of my love for ‘Jeopardy!’ and how I was his biggest fan and asked if he’d take a picture with me. He was so obliging and kind,” Brewer said.
When Daniel Brindza, a delivery support specialist in Cleveland, was a college student in 1989, he met Trebek, who was on campus as a guest speaker.
“I had no idea who he was. I am not even sure if I was aware of ‘Jeopardy!’ In all honesty, I was so busy with my studies during those years that I didn’t really keep up with pop culture and didn’t really watch a lot of television,” Brindza said.
But he did get an autographed photo from him that he still has.
“It really was not until many years after graduation that I realized what an amazing opportunity I received that day to meet one of television’s icons,” he said.
Other employees were fans of Trebek from before “Jeopardy!”
Melisa Arnold, a relief postmaster in New Cambria, KS, recalled her mother receiving tickets in 1975 to be in the studio audience for “High Rollers,” one of the shows Trebek hosted earlier in his career.
“I remember sitting somewhere in the middle of the audience, and as a kid, I was in awe of the cameras. I had no idea that this TV host would eventually become famous and well-respected,” she said.
For other employees, Trebek was like family.
Dearborn, MO, Retail Associate Jeanne Barber said watching the show “was just a part of the daily routine at our house. We had a great time trying to answer the questions and find out bits of trivia to add to our knowledge base.”
Teresa Rouse, a retail associate in Good Hope, IL, credits the show with raising her two sons to become “walking encyclopedias” from years of continually watching.
Whitney White, a supervisor at the USPS Customer Care Center in Troy, MI, remembers watching “Jeopardy!” with her brother while they were growing up.
“When we heard of Mr. Trebek’s passing, we contacted one another as if he were a family member,” White said. “Well, I guess you can say he was — he babysat us for a half-hour every day.”
