Jeopardy contestants, host honor Belinder teacher Larry Martin, raise awareness of pancreatic cancer

Larry Martin and Alex Trebek at last year’s Jeopardy Teachers Tournament.

Legendary Belinder Elementary teacher Larry Martin was remembered at the national level last week as the game show Jeopardy kicked off a special tournament for which he would have qualified.

Martin wowed the Jeopardy world last year when he won the game show’s annual Teachers Tournament. The win qualified him to participate in the Tournament of Champions, which kicked off this week.

However, shortly after his Jeopardy win, Martin was forced to step back from the classroom after a pancreatic cancer diagnosis. He died in January and was remembered at a celebration of life ceremony this spring at the school where he taught for 27 years.