NBC’s Today show co-host Sheinelle Jones’ husband, Uche Ojeh, has died from an aggressive form of brain cancer. He was 45.
Glioblastoma is a fast-growing, aggressive brain tumor with a low survival rate. Doctors don’t know the cause of a spike in glioblastoma cases in recent years.
Earlier this year, Jones took time off from the Today show to deal with a personal “family health matter.”
“Thank you, for all of your love and support,” Jones wrote in a post in January after her unexplained absence from the show.
Ojeh and Jones, 47, were married for 18 years. They shared three children.
Jones’ NBC co-hosts made the announcement on the air on Friday morning.
“With profound sadness, we share this morning that Uche Ojeh, the husband of our dear friend and Today co-host Sheinelle Jones has passed away after a courageous battle with an aggressive form of brain cancer called glioblastoma,” said co-host Savannah Guthrie. “There are no words for the pain that we feel for Sheinelle and their three young children. Uche was an incredible person. We all loved him.”
Guthrie continued: “We just want to say Sheinelle, Kayin, Uche and Clara and the Ojeh family: We are with you, we love you. You are our family and we’re just sending all of our love to you right now.”
Co-host Craig Melvin recalled playing golf with his good friend, Ojeh.
“One thing he always talked about, he talked about those kids. He loved those kids more than anything else in this world,” Melvin said. “[He] was just so proud. He was that dad that was on the sideline at every soccer game, he was at all the concerts and recitals. He was that guy.”
Al Roker called Ojeh “a private guy” who was “wickedly funny.”
“He would say things that kind of caught you off guard, but wasn’t braggadocious or anything. He was a very humble man,” Roker said.
