Why Sheinelle Jones Has Been So Candid About Her Grief After Uche Ojeh’s Death
Sheinelle Jones will be starting her mornings from a new location.
One year after her husband Uche Ojeh died following a battle with brain cancer, the Today With Jenna & Sheinelle cohost revealed that she and her kids—son Kayin, 16, and twins Clara and Uche, 13—are beginning a new chapter by relocating to a different home.
“The kids are going to a new school,” Sheinelle said on the May 14 episode of the morning show, “so we’re moving.”
Though the 48-year-old didn’t share where her family was moving to, she reflected on how moving into a new home is one of “life’s stressors,” quipping to cohost Jenna Bush Hager, “As if I need any more stress.”
As part of the process, though, Sheinelle shared she has been going through “boxes and boxes and boxes” in her basement and finding old keepsakes she hadn’t seen in years—including a special memento from her 2007 wedding to Uche.
“I found this old suitcase, and I unzipped it and it was my wedding dress,” she continued. “I remember, Uche and I took pictures all over the streets of Philadelphia, so the bottom of it is like [dirty].”
And though Sheinelle lamented that she never got the dress preserved, she alluded to seeing the gown “differently” in the wake of Uche’s death.
Indeed, Sheinelle has been candid about navigating her grief since returning to Today in September, a decision she shared has been “healing” for herself and others despite how difficult it has been.
Nathan Congleton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
“People kept saying, ‘You’re so strong, you’re so strong,’” she told E! News last month. “And I’m just trying to survive, you know? At the beginning, I was just trying to get out of bed. It’s like, ‘I have to go to work. So I’m going to get myself out of bed. I’m going to get to work.’”
She added, “You’re doing the things that you feel like you have to do and somebody else sees it as strength. And I’m thinking, ‘Am I? Oh, me? I’m strong? Oh, OK.’”
But while Sheinelle knows others have been inspired by her vulnerability, she’s starting to recognize that she can inspire herself, too.
“It’s honestly, maybe not until now, that I’m thinking, ‘You know what? Maybe I should celebrate my own [strength],’” she shared. “We don’t do that for ourselves, but I’m finally starting to say, ‘You know what? I think I need to give myself some credit here, because it wasn’t easy.’”
Read on for a look back at Sheinelle and Uche’s cutest family photos.
Sheinelle Jones/Instagram
Life Partners
Sheinelle Jones often spoke about how she met her husband Uche Ojeh while giving him a tour of campus at Northwestern University when she was just 19.
As Savannah Guthrie noted in Today’s May 23 tribute to the consultant, he was a “remarkable man who was Sheinelle’s perfect partner in life.”
Sheinelle Jones/Instagram
Dedicated to Faith
Throughout his battle with glioblastoma, the Today anchors emphasized that Uche was devoted to his faith as well as his Nigerian heritage. In a post from 2021, Sheinelle shared that all three of their kids dressed in “native Nigerian wear” for their baptism.
Sheinelle Jones/Instagram
That Guy
As the father of kids Kayin, and younger twins Clara and Uche Jr., Uche put his family first.
“He loved those kids more than anything else in this world,” Craig Melvin emphasized in Today’s tribute. “He was just so proud. He was that dad that was on the sidelines of every soccer game, all of the concerts, recitals. He was that guy.”
Sheinelle Jones, Instagram
A “Humble Man”
During Today’s broadcast, Al Roker noted that while Uche was quiet, he was “wickedly funny,” adding, “He was a humble man.”
Sheinelle Jones/Instagram
Biggest Supporter
In a birthday tribute to Uche in 2021, Sheinelle emphasized that her late husband was always by her side.
“When I put in his picture and click ‘search’ on my iPhone … pretty much ALL of the pics, are of him by my side,” she explained on Instagram. “And/or helping the kids with homework, music or soccer lessons. I am truly thankful to be on this journey with such a beautiful human being.”
Sheinelle Jones/Instagram
Going the Distance
In the Today segment honoring Uche, Savannah emphasized that Sheinelle and Uche overcame obstacles including long distance to make their romance work. And for Sheinelle, it was all worth it. As she wrote in a tribute post to Uche in 2022, “You caught my eye when I was 19 years old …. and here we are.”
Sheinelle Jones/Instagram
Warriors
Amid their hardest battle together, Savannah emphasized that both Sheinelle and Uche were “warriors.”
As Savannah emphasized, Uche was “a man whose joyful spirit and quiet strength complemented Sheinelle in every way.”
Nathan Congleton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
Saying Goodbye
In a post following the segment announcing Uche’s tragic death, Sheinelle wrote, “Thank you, for all of your love and support.”
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