ahirbhairav wrote:If they asked you to contribute to a suicide prevention coalition, obviously he committed suicide.
I wouldn't say it is obvious. The person might have been an avid anti-suicide advocate and it is his wishes (rather than those of the loved ones left behind) that people support the cause. There could also be other reasons.
Brian
...but the senator, while insisting he was not intoxicated, could not explain his nudity.
If I had 50 cents for every math question I got right, I'd have $6.30 by now.
jeopardyfan87 wrote:Seeing the 1992 Tournament of Champions is one of the tournaments I have always been extremely interested in watching in its entirety....of which I haven't as of yet (all I've seen is the two-game finals); I google the names of the participants to see if I can find more information about them.
One participant from that tournament who I was trying to find out more information about, Kirk Ditzler, I searched for him only to discover he passed away of cancer back in August of 1998.
bamaman here is the post that first mentioned Ditzler's death.
Don't see that it was ever posted here, but 2006 TofCer/5 timer Bob Mesko died on November 16, 2012 at age 49 after a battle with cancer, as per a web search. He returned to the show because of a poorly worded DD that likely cost him the game, and then came back later to win two more games and make the 2006 TofC.
legendneverdies wrote:Don't see that it was ever posted here, but 2006 TofCer/5 timer Bob Mesko died on November 16, 2012 at age 49 after a battle with cancer, as per a web search. He returned to the show because of a poorly worded DD that likely cost him the game, and then came back later to win two more games and make the 2006 TofC.
How sad. I had no idea. I received an e-mail from one of the archivists that George Soule died in 2011.
^Ouida Rellstab (Seniors Champ 1989) is still with us, as far as I'm aware. Her husband passed away three years ago but her husband's obituary listed her as one of his survivors. She, incidentally, was one of my substitute teachers around the time I got on the show, and she gave me a lot of helpful tips before I went on.
legendneverdies wrote:Don't see that it was ever posted here, but 2006 TofCer/5 timer Bob Mesko died on November 16, 2012 at age 49 after a battle with cancer, as per a web search. He returned to the show because of a poorly worded DD that likely cost him the game, and then came back later to win two more games and make the 2006 TofC.
Jeepers, he was young, and I thought he was even younger. He was one of the most self-possessed of the contestants in that ToC. RIP
Peggy Kennedy
Chris Shea
Bruce Cox
Bart Thomas
Jim Vercolen
I wonder where they got information that all these people died. I researched some and the only one I could find proof of was Peggy Kennedy from the Seniors Tournament of 1988. I could understand Bart Thomas may have died as well because he was in the Seniors Tournament of 1994 although I found no proof of it. The others I am highly unsure of. I found no indication anywhere of the others dying. In fact, I think they may have the wrong Chris Shea, because there indeed was a Chris Shea that died in 2010 and he was an actor, most known for doing the original voice of Linus on A Charlie Brown Christmas, and this is obviously not the contestant.
Peggy Kennedy
Chris Shea
Bruce Cox
Bart Thomas
Jim Vercolen
I wonder where they got information that all these people died. I researched some and the only one I could find proof of was Peggy Kennedy from the Seniors Tournament of 1988. I could understand Bart Thomas may have died as well because he was in the Seniors Tournament of 1994 although I found no proof of it. The others I am highly unsure of. I found no indication anywhere of the others dying. In fact, I think they may have the wrong Chris Shea, because there indeed was a Chris Shea that died in 2010 and he was an actor, most known for doing the original voice of Linus on A Charlie Brown Christmas, and this is obviously not the contestant.
If only Jeopardy got Social Security numbers from its contestants...
legendneverdies wrote:Don't see that it was ever posted here, but 2006 TofCer/5 timer Bob Mesko died on November 16, 2012 at age 49 after a battle with cancer, as per a web search. He returned to the show because of a poorly worded DD that likely cost him the game, and then came back later to win two more games and make the 2006 TofC.
I just found out about his passing, to my shock, in browsing the ToC Yearbook on the official Jeopardy! site. He was a quiet but gracious guy. Rest in peace.
Edited to add: For those interested, an obituary I found online indicates he got married a year after the 2006 tournament, and the couple had a daughter a year after that.
Last edited by Budphrey on Mon Sep 30, 2013 9:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
MarkBarrett wrote:I've updated the list on the first page and it was an embarrassing pleasure to remove Zeke Sevilla since he had an update in the yearbook.
Reports of his death were greatly exaggerated?
Brian
...but the senator, while insisting he was not intoxicated, could not explain his nudity.
If I had 50 cents for every math question I got right, I'd have $6.30 by now.
I think the ones whose deaths we learned about via jeopardy.com and don't know anything more about could have the blurb "Reported as deceased in jeopardy.com's Tournament of Champions Yearbook" added to their J! Archive player pages.
Strangely, they don't say anything about Jay Rosenberg.
Someone 96 in 2003 would have been 85 for the 1992 ToC. In the ToC pictures, he looks early 70s at the oldest. You've got to find more than the same name and state to make these proclamations.
ahirbhairav wrote:Looks like it's the same Leonard Schmidt, Seniors Champ '92. If I got the right obit, he lived a long life till the age of 96. May he rest in peace. http://www.death-record.com/l/110780600 ... -J-Schmidt
That's not the right Leonard Schmidt. The one who was a former Jeopardy contestant passed away in 1994, less than 18 months after appearing in the Tournament of Champions.
"I was able to dig up a scan of the Jewish Chronicle of Pittsburgh from 1977 that has a picture of a Dr. Leonard J. Schmidt, an optometrist, and his face clearly matches up with the picture from 1992.
Here is the text of the April 14, 1994 edition of that paper with the news of Dr. Schmidt's passing. According to his SSDI record, Leonard was 67.