Sheinelle Jones Was ‘So Strong’ After Late Husband’s Brain Cancer Diagnosis: ‘Found the Grace in the Grief’

Sheinelle Jones’ Today show family is rallying around her following the heartbreaking news of her husband’s death.

On Friday, May 23, Savannah Guthrie announced with “profound sadness” that Jones’ husband of 18 years, Uche Ojeh, 45, died after a “courageous” battle with an aggressive form of brain cancer called Glioblastoma. They share three kids: 15-year-old Kayin and twins Clara and Uche, 12.

Guthrie was joined by all her Today co-hosts Craig Melvin, Al Roker, Carson Daly, Dylan Dreyer and Jenna Bush Hager as she shared the news and they reflected on how “strong” Jones has been.

“Sheinelle has been so strong through all of this, as was Uche,” Guthrie said.

“We all know Sheinelle, she’s always smiling. She’s just the bright light when she walks into the room,” Dreyer, who co-hosts the 3rd hour with Jones, Roker and Melvin said.

“Even through this, she relied on her faith, she relied on her friends,” she continued. “I think back to COVID when they as a family were in South Carolina together. They had this special time of their life to just all be together because that was the most important thing to each and every one of them.”

Jones, 47, left her Today show family feeling “completely inspired” every time they talked to her amid her absence from the show, Hager said.

“She has her humor. I mean, we all know that. There’s nobody funnier than Sheinelly. That humor, she’s found the grace in the grief, which is not easy.”

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The way Jones handled her husband’s diagnosis and cancer battle was “remarkable,” Melvin continued.

“Dealing with a husband who’s battling cancer and three young children that she has had to rear by herself for a while now, essentially, it’s just, it really is remarkable. And to your point, JBH, every time you’d talk to her, she still found a way to laugh about something.”

Guthrie, 53, added, “Listen, Uche has so many friend, college friends, friends from their time in Philadelphia, those friends have surrounded the family during this time. Sheinelle is a warrior and Uche was a warrior. She has risen to the occasion and then some.”

Jones has been absent from Today since mid-December. She explained her absence in January that she was “taking time to deal with a family health matter.”

“It’s not lost on me how lucky I am to have not on the support of my Today show family, but to also have all of you,” she wrote in an Instagram post. “Your kindness means so much to me. I’ll see you soon.”

Amid her absence, her co-hosts have continued to voice their support for her, as Dreyer said earlier this month that “a week doesn’t go by where we’re not checking in, seeing how she’s doing.”

After the May 23 segment aired, Jones shared a post on social media. “Thank you, for all of your love and support ❤️,” she captioned an Instagram video of the broadcast.