Shaynel Jones’ husband Uche Ojie dies after battle with cancer
Uche Ojie, husband of Today show co-host Sheinelle Jones, has died at the age of 45 after a battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.
It’s been a year since Sheinelle Jones’ husband, Uche Ojie, passed away from brain cancer. For the “Today” show host, it means one year as a grieving single mother of three children.
Ogier passed away on May 18, 2025. Jones has three children with Augier, including 16-year-old Cain and 13-year-old twins Clara and Uche.
Jones is also grieving. She said she has been dealing with a range of emotions over the past year, often feeling more than one emotion at a time.
“I don’t run away from my feelings. If I cry, I cry. If I’m happy, I’m happy. You know, I’ve talked about it a lot, but I’m a strong believer that you can hold on to two things,” Jones recently told USA TODAY, adding that she’s been much more “in tune” with her emotions these days. “And I think my kids are too.”
Sheinelle Jones is learning to let go of the little things
Jones said she’s still figuring out how to raise her children through her grief. It wasn’t always easy.
In the immediate aftermath of my husband’s death, I didn’t feel like fighting with my teenage children if one of them didn’t do their homework.
“I can’t be the parent who yells at my kids for not doing their homework, because the reality is I can’t even think,” she said.
She learned to ignore the little things.
“I’m not in a position to make a fuss with them about things that don’t concern me,” Jones said. “We now know what’s really important. So do we want you to be on your phone right now? Should you put your phone down and eat dinner? Of course, and obviously, to some extent you have to try to do that. But now they have a longer leash on me, because we all heal in different ways.”
Madeline Mitchell’s role covering women and the care economy for USA TODAY is supported by a partnership with Pivotal and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input.
Contact Madeline at: memitchell@usatoday.com and @maddiemitch_ With X.
