Alex Trebek's wife thanks fans for their support

Jean Trebek, the Long Island-raised widow of iconic "Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek, has thanked fans and well-wishers for all their support following his death Sunday of pancreatic cancer at age 80.

"My family and I sincerely thank you all for your compassionate messages and generosity," she wrote Wednesday on Instagram, alongside a photo from the couple's April 1990 wedding. The photo showed her in a short-sleeved bridal gown as Trebek, in a white suit and black bow tie, slipped a ring on her finger. "Your expressions have truly touched our hearts," said Jean Trebek, 57. "Thank you so very, very much. Many Blessings to all."

She previously posted that image Sept. 3 on her and writer-actress Alison Martin's spirituality and lifestyle website Insidewink.com. "Just before my wedding, I remember feeling very ‘off,’ " Jean Trebek wrote then. "My heart definitely loved the man I was engaged to and yet my mind was bringing up all the crazy scenarios that might go wrong with our relationship due to our significant age gap and how different our personalities were."

She then realized, she wrote, "Letting go of 'one way of being' and embracing a new path can conjure up fear. … Yet, we all must get past our apprehension so we can move forward. … My husband has made me a better person by encouraging me to look at and release some deeply held erroneous beliefs I had about myself. … I am forever grateful for my wedding day."

The former Jean Currivan was raised in Huntington and graduated from Harborfields High School in Greenlawn. She worked at a real estate project manager on Long Island before moving to Los Angeles, where she attended Pepperdine University and was a weekend bookkeeper for a business-executive friend of Alex Trebek’s.

In his memoir that came out in July, "The Answer Is … Reflections on My Life," the game show host recalled meeting his future wife at the friend's home. "She was the most charming person I had ever met; not only polite, but exuding a warmth that showed character and spirituality as well," he wrote. "And she was drop-dead gorgeous. … One day, he invited me to a dinner party he was hosting, and I said, 'I'll come if you ask Jean to come also.' After that we started dating."

The couple had children Matthew, 29, an owner-operator of the Harlem restaurants Oso and Pizza by Lucille's, and Emily, 27, who works in real estate in Los Angeles. Alex Trebek also has a stepdaughter, Nicky, in her early 50s, from first wife Elaine Callei.

In related news, the cable channel Buzzr announced on Thursday that it will air a tribute to Trebek from 12:30 p.m. Saturday through 2 a.m. Sunday. The salute will include episodes of "Concentration" and "To Tell the Truth" hosted by Trebek, and episodes of "Card Sharks" in which he was a celebrity contestant.