A Naperville woman received a special donation from “Jeopardy!” champion James Holzhauer for a walk she’s hosting to raise money to find a cure to the same type of cancer that afflicts “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek.
Like many people from Naperville, Ann Zediker got caught up watching the record-breaking “Jeopardy!” run by Holzhauer, a former resident and product of Naperville District 203 schools. Holzhauer ended up winning 32 games and $2,462,216, falling $58,484 short of matching Ken Jennings’ all-time regular game total of $2,520,700 set in 2004.
“There was an excitement, and I started following him on social media,” she said.
It would be a moment at the start of the show, which would be Holzhauer’s last, that touched and inspired Zediker to reach out to professional sports bettor.
Trebek, who is battling stage 4 pancreatic cancer, thanked Holzhauer's daughter for the handmade card she made. "I want to express my thanks to your beautiful little daughter, Natasha, for having made this get well card for me," Trebek told Holzhauer. "That was very sweet of her."
Zediker understands the ravages of pancreatic cancer. It was the disease that in 2010 robbed her father of his life five months after he was diagnosed.
“Pancreatic cancer is one of the worst cancers out there,” Zediker said. “Most people aren’t diagnosed until the latter stages.”
Because of Holzhauer’s connections to both Trebek and Naperville, Zediker said she emailed Holzhauer to see if he’d be interested in participating in the 2019 Naperville Pancreatic Cancer Research Walk on July 14.
“My gut told me it was the right thing to do,” she said. “It couldn’t hurt.”
Holzhauer replied that he would not be in Naperville then but would be happy to send a donation, she said.
According to the donation website, Holzhauer gave $1,109.14 (astute “Jeopardy!” fans will recognize the amount as Natasha’s birthday) and left the message, “For Alex Trebek and all the other survivors.”
Zediker said she knew little about the disease until after her father was diagnosed.
“I’m just a Naperville mom, but I have to do something about this disease,” Zediker said.“The only hope I have is research.”
After looking around, Zediker joined forces with Lustgarten Foundation, the nation’s largest private funder of pancreatic cancer research. What drew her to the foundation, she said, was because separate funding is used to support administrative expenses, so 100% of donations go directly to pancreatic cancer research.
Seeing Trebek’s appearance on “Jeopardy!” this spring is proof that the money she’s raised for research at the annual events she’s held since 2011 is worth the effort, Zediker said.
People who once were given days, weeks or months to live after being diagnosed are living longer, like Trebek, she said.
Trebek, who in March announced he was undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer, said in May he’s responding well to treatment and is in “near remission.”
Zediker said she and fellow organizers set a goal of raising $100,000 and getting more people aware of the cause.
“Our plans are not extremely grand,” she said. “We walk on the Naperville River Walk. It’s not the hustle and bustle. It’s nice and quaint.”
The ninth annual Naperville Pancreatic Cancer Walk begins at 9:45 a.m. at the Naperville Grand Pavilion at 500 W. Jackson Ave. Check-in and registration for the 5K walk begins at 8:30 a.m.
For more information on donating or to register, go to https://events.lustgarten.org/event/2019-naperville-pancreatic-cancer-research-walk/e216200.
In preparation for the walk, a free pre-walk pancreatic cancer tribute concert will be hosted at the Moser Tower and Millennium Carillon at 7 p.m. July 13.
City Carillonneur Tim Sleep will perform more than 30 songs (or a recognizable snippet) honoring artists and actors who have died from pancreatic cancer, including Aretha Franklin, Luciano Pavarotti, Henry Mancini, Steve Jobs, Dizzy Gillespie, Roger Williams, Alan Rickman, George Halas and Jack Benny.
Sleep’s brother, Dan, also died from pancreatic cancer.