Alex Trebek remembered by Long Islanders who competed on 'Jeopardy!'

Competing in the "Jeopardy!" 2013 Teachers Tournament and meeting its rock-steady host Alex Trebek has been a gift that keeps on giving, Long Island music teacher Patrick Dillon said Sunday.

Dillon, who advanced to the semifinals of the tournament, said he became close friends with many of the other educators he met as a "Jeopardy!" contestant and even performed at the wedding of another competitor in Canada.

"It was one of the best things that has ever happened in my life," said Dillon, who teaches at Munsey Park Elementary School in Manhasset and lives in Queens. "The best part is that we were all educators, and that we all had a drive to learn."

Trebek, the unflappable host of "Jeopardy!" since 1984, died Sunday at 80 years old after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Long Islanders who competed on the show said he was just as charming and gentlemanly when the camera was off as he was on TV.

Former Plainview resident Lois Feinstein was a contestant on the first episode of "Jeopardy!" hosted by Trebek in 1984.

"He was an amazing game show host, always personable yet very professional in keeping the game moving and interacting with the contestants," Feinstein said in an email. "Having had cancer myself, and undergone chemo and radiation, I had nothing but admiration for him being able to continue working while undergoing treatment. He was, indeed, one-of-a-kind."

Laura Mogul of Port Washington, who appeared on "Jeopardy!" twice — once on an earlier version in 1973 when Art Fleming was the host, the other in 2016 — said she was inspired by Trebek’s intellectual dexterity after watching him field unscripted questions from the audience during breaks.

"In his interactions with the audience, nothing threw him," said Mogul, the executive director of the Landmark on Main Street community center in Port Washington. "He had so much poise and so much knowledge. He made the audience feel like they were a part of the production."

Joe Taglic, who grew up in Valley Stream and competed in the 2014 "Jeopardy!" Teen Tournament when he was 18 years old, said the longtime host made the young men and women he had just met feel important despite their age difference.

"It seemed like he was genuinely curious in what you had to say and how your life is going," said Taglic, who now lives in Chicago. "He was very cool. He wanted to be there for the contestants.

"It was a very unique experience," Taglic added. "It was a ton of fun being up there and competing intellectually."

Dillon said Trebek and the rest of the "Jeopardy!" production team were the "epitome of professionalism."

"The whole production team at 'Jeopardy!,’ they make you feel welcome and at ease, they make you feel super relaxed," Dillon said. "And when the big guy comes out, it is like meeting Santa Claus. You get to shake the hand of the man you have been watching on television for years. You’ve been watching this show every day for years and you finally get to meet Alex. It was a completely surreal experience."

"Alex is as American as apple pie," Dillon said of the Canadian native who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1998.

With Frank Lovece