Craig Melvin Opens Up About His Friendship with Sheinelle Jones' Late Husband Uche Ojeh, Recalls Their Final Outing Together

Craig Melvin is remembering Uche Ojeh.

During nan Friday, May 23, unrecorded broadcast of nan Today show, it was revealed that Sheinelle Jones’ hubby died astatine nan property of 45 from glioblastoma, an fierce shape of encephalon cancer. As her co-hosts honored Ojeh’s bequest passim nan morning, Melvin reflected connected their last outing together.

“The past clip we played play together past fall, we had a number of conversations astir conscionable life successful general,” nan 46-year-old journalist recalled. “And 1 point he ever talked about, he talked astir those kids. He loved those kids much than thing other successful this world and was conscionable truthful proud. He was that dada that was connected nan sidelines of each nan shot games. He was astatine each nan concerts and nan recitals. He was that guy."

Melvin besides acknowledged Jones’ spot and resilience while she coped pinch specified a difficult time.

“What has been remarkable, also, is watching nan measurement pinch which she has dealt pinch this,” he said. “Dealing pinch a hubby who’s battling crab and 3 young children that she has had to rear by herself for a while now, essentially. It’s just, it really is remarkable.”

Savannah Guthrie, Al Roker, Carson Daly, Dylan Dreyer and Jenna Bush Hager commended Jones, 47, for putting connected a brave face, arsenic well.

“We each cognize Sheinelle, she’s ever smiling,” Dreyer noted. “She’s conscionable nan agleam ray erstwhile she walks into nan room. Even done this, she relied connected her faith, she relied connected her friends. I deliberation backmost to COVID erstwhile they, arsenic a family, were successful South Carolina together. They had this typical clip of their life to conscionable each beryllium together because that was nan astir important point to each and each 1 of them.”

Bush Hager added: “And she has her humor. I mean, we each cognize that. There’s cipher funnier than Sheinelly. That humor, she’s recovered nan grace successful nan grief, which is not easy. But I cognize we all, erstwhile we’ve spoken to her, person conscionable been wholly inspired.”

Ojeh first met Jones astatine Northwestern University successful nan precocious '90s. At nan time, she was conscionable a freshman, but he — a visiting elder — caught her oculus and she offered to show him astir campus.

By 2001, some had graduated from nan prestigious university: Jones pinch a grade successful publicity and Ojeh pinch a grade successful machine subject pinch an economics concentration. After making love agelong region for 8 years, Ojeh projected connected their alma mater’s field wherever they fell successful emotion successful nan mediate of a rainstorm.

They sewage joined successful September 2007 successful Jones’ hometown of Philadelphia and welcomed their first son, Kayin, in August 2009. Then, in July 2012, they expanded their family pinch fraternal twins, Clara and Uche.

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Guthrie, who praised Ojeh and Jones’ “beautiful emotion story,” called nan brace “true partners successful life” who stood by each different done everything.

“Uche had a beautiful, deep, abiding religion each azygous time of this fight, and you could spot it successful his eyes,” she shared. “He was an bonzer person, and we emotion him, and we emotion you, Sheinelle.”

Jones, who has been absent from the Today show since mid-December, later shared a video of nan conception connected Instagram pinch nan caption: "Thank you, for each of your emotion and support. ❤️"