Katie Couric is sending her love to a member of her Today show family.
The former coanchor of the NBC morning show took to Instagram on Friday, May 23, to pay tribute to Sheinelle Jones’ husband, Uche Ojeh, after his unexpected death at age 45. “Sending so much love, support and sympathy to @sheinelle_o following the loss of her beloved husband Uche after a valiant struggle with glioblastoma,” she wrote alongside a photo of the couple.
Couric, 68, continued, “My heart is breaking for her and their three children. Please hold them in your hearts. Love you Sheinelle 💔.”
Couric left her role as Today’s coanchor in 2006, eight years before Jones, 47, joined the series as a Weekend Today cohost. Jones has served as a cohost of the show’s third hour alongside Al Roker, Craig Melvin and Dylan Dreyer since 2019.
Jones has been absent from Today since December 2024. In January, she clarified via Instagram that she was “taking time to deal with a family health matter.” During Friday’s Today broadcast, Savannah Guthrie broke the news that Ojeh had died after a private battle with the brain cancer glioblastoma.
“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, 53, tearfully announced.
The show aired a video package revisiting the couple’s biggest moments, from falling in love as students at Northwestern University to their 2007 wedding to becoming parents to their three kids — son Kayin, 15, and twins Clara and Uche, 12.
“We just want to say Sheinelle, Kayin, little Uche and Clara, the Ojeh family, we are with you. We love you,” Guthrie added. “You are our family, and we are just sending all of our love to you right now.”
Jones broke her silence on Ojeh’s death by sharing her colleagues’ on-air tributes via Instagram. “Thank you, for all of your love and support ❤️,” she wrote alongside the clip on Friday.
Couric went through a similar experience as Jones when she lost her first husband, Jay Monahan, to colon cancer at age 42 in 1998. The spouses, who wed in 1989, shared daughters Ellie, 33, and Carrie, 29. She found new love with her husband, John Molner, whom she wed in 2014.
Couric became a grandmother in March 2024 with the birth of Ellie and her husband Mark Dobrosky’s son, John. Her grandson was named after Jay, whose full name was John Paul Monahan.
Earlier this year, Couric exclusively told Us Weekly that her husband’s legacy lives on through their kids and baby John. “Now every time I see Baby Jay, I think of my Jay and Ellie and Carrie’s Jay,” she shared in March while promoting the Cologuard Classic by Exact Sciences golf tournament to help raise colon cancer awareness.
“I always think of how proud he would be of them,” she added. “So, we think about him a lot.”
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