Sheinelle Jones Tearfully Recalls Late Husband Uche Encouraging Her to Write Debut Book Before His Shocking Death in 2025

Sheinelle Jones’ late husband, Uche Ojeh, always kept her dreams in mind, even when he was suffering from brain cancer.

During the Tuesday, April 14, episode of TODAY With Jenna & Sheinelle, as she celebrated the release of her book, Through Mom’s Eyes, the media personality revealed Ojeh was the one who encouraged her to write when he was undergoing treatment in the hospital.

“I look back at my journey, personal. I wouldn’t be a mom without my mom and grandmothers, but also, I wouldn’t be a mom without Uche,” she expressed of Ojeh, who passed away in May 2025. “He pushed me to write this book. He was fighting glioblastoma, which is a horrible brain cancer. After his very first brain surgery, he woke up, and he didn’t know, I didn’t know, would he talk? Would he be okay? And we gave each other a hug, and we looked at each other, and then he goes, ‘Where’s your laptop?’ He said, ‘You’re going to write. Come on.’”

From that point on, Jones would keep Ojeh company in his hospital room, sipping on chamomile tea and writing.

“I would just type, and I remember sharing it with him,” she recalled.

The 47-year-old would also show certain passages to her grandma.

“She read it, and she passed seven months after Uche,” she remembered. “This book means so much to me, because the people who poured into me aren’t with me. I feel like they’re with me in heaven, but I’m still doing this for them, for sure.”

Jones elaborated on the impact her children with Ojeh had on her when she was penning the book.

“Through Mom’s Eyes is my love letter to motherhood. It’s my way to show that I am so grateful that the good Lord blessed me with the three little kiddos that I have, and it’s a way for me to try and show other parents and other women that I see them,” she said. “Sure, I can say it for myself, but it’s pretty nice, too, when you hear it from Shaq’s mom and Steph Curry’s mom and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s mom.”

Jones’ children surprised her on Tuesday’s episode of Today to congratulate the star on her new chapter.

“Words can’t even describe it. I’m so happy for you, mom,” Kayin, 16, gushed. “You’ve worked on this since quarantine. We’ve had the ups and downs. I remember when you lost your computer and it broke. That’s the one thing I was thinking. We’ve obviously gone through so much, and I’m just so happy for you. I love you so much.”

Uche, 13, added: “Her compassion and kindness to everybody she’s around has such a good effect on everybody. Love you, mom.”