'Jeopardy' host Alex Trebek pays tribute to contestant who died of cancer

Cindy Stowell's time on "Jeopardy" came to an end on Wednesday, but not before host Alex Trebek paid tribute to the late contestant.

The 41-year-old from Austin, Texas, died from cancer on Dec. 5., a week before her first episode on the game show aired. Filmed over the summer after she told producers she had only six months to live, Stowell went on a six-game winning streak.

"For the past six 'Jeopardy!' programs, you folks have been getting to know the talented champion, Cindy Stowell. Appearing on the show was the fulfillment of a lifelong ambition for that lady," Trebek said Wednesday.

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"What you did not know is that when we taped these programs with her a few weeks ago, she was suffering from Stage IV cancer and sadly, on Dec. 5, Cindy Stowell passed away," he revealed. "So from all of us here at 'Jeopardy!,' our sincere condolences to her family and her friends."

See photos of Alex Trebek through the years:

Stowell racked up $105,803 in winnings posthumously while on "Jeopardy," and before her death, she had vowed to donate it to cancer research.

"Cindy came on 'Jeopardy!' to play the game she loved and in doing so, she was able to make a contribution to cancer research in the hopes that no one else would have to go through what she did," her boyfriend Jason Hess and Stowell's parents, Greg and Carole, said in a joint statement earlier this month.

The Stowell family has asked that people make a donation to the Cancer Research Institute in Cindy's name.

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