Noel J. Mickelson, known to her family as “Noni,” was an artist, equestrian, and craftswoman who spent a decade married to actor John Amos. She never sought fame, yet she raised his two children and shaped their creative lives. Her name returned to public attention after the actor’s death in August 2024.
A Private Life Behind a Public Name
Noel Jean Mickelson lived outside the entertainment industry. Reliable outlets consistently describe her as an artist, an equestrian, and a craftswoman. Her children say she had deep respect for nature and animals.
Public records about her are thin. Several websites list a specific birth date and birthplace, but those details come from low-quality pages and are not confirmed by major publications, so they are left out here.
Her daughter, Shannon Amos, has said her mother gave her and her brother the confidence to express themselves creatively. Her son, Kelly Christopher “K.C.” Amos, has shared throwback photos of her on social media. In one post he recalled that she insisted the family eat dinner by 6 p.m. Both children call her Noni.
Shannon’s professional biography describes her mother as Ashkenazi Jewish, a descendant of Eastern Europeans. Amos’s family roots trace to Ghana, according to AmoMama’s reporting.
How She Met John Amos
Shannon has said her parents met at Colorado State University. Amos was studying there and playing football. In a June 2020 Instagram post, Shannon described the meeting as the start of a love story set against a turbulent period in American history.
Amos later became one of television’s best-known dramatic actors. He is remembered for playing James Evans Sr. on Good Times, for his role in the miniseries Roots, and for appearances in the Coming to America films.
The Marriage: 1965 to 1975
Multiple outlets, including Sportskeeda, report that the couple were married from 1965 to 1975. After the wedding, they moved to New Jersey, according to a 2023 Hollywood Reporter article. Amos was pursuing a professional football career, and his wife supported that dream. Amos told the magazine that, being an artist herself, she understood his reluctance to accept a conventional nine-to-five job.
The family later settled in the Sylmar neighborhood of Los Angeles to support Amos’s acting career. K.C. grew up there on a property that included horses.
The Interracial Marriage Question
Some online headlines claim the marriage was illegal or “banned.” The broader history is clear. Many U.S. states still prohibited interracial marriage in the mid-1960s. The Supreme Court struck those laws down nationwide in Loving v. Virginia in June 1967.
I could not find a reliable source confirming that the couple’s own marriage broke a law where they wed, so that claim is not repeated here.
What is documented is the racism the family says it faced. Shannon has described an Instagram post recalling an incident in which an armed man pointed a gun at her father. She has said it was her first real encounter with racism and that her parents had to explain it to her.
Her Two Children
The couple had two children:
- Shannon Amos was born on August 5, 1966. She works mostly behind the camera as a writer, producer, and manager. According to her biography, she started as a production assistant on MTV’s first hip-hop show after a chance meeting with director Ted Demme. She later founded the talent management and production company Afterglow Multimedia. In 2020 she launched the wellness travel company Sumanah, and in 2021 she settled in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. She has a daughter, Quiera.
- Kelly Christopher “K.C.” Amos was born on October 18, 1970. He is a director, producer, and video editor. His credits include The Watermelon Heist, a 2003 project he made with his sister, as well as Tamales and Gumbo and Hauntsville.
After the Divorce
Amos and Mickelson separated in 1975. The next year, Amos left Good Times after ongoing friction with the show’s writers, and his character was written out.
Amos later married actress Lillian Lehman. Sportskeeda dates that marriage to 1978 and 1979. The couple had no children, and few details about the marriage are public. Most reliable accounts agree that Amos was married twice.
Little is publicly known about Mickelson’s life after the divorce. Shannon has said her mother became disabled in 1996 after complications from a hysterectomy. According to Shannon, her mother’s second husband was her initial caregiver. After he died in 2005, K.C. took over. These are Shannon’s accounts, and the details have not been independently confirmed.
Her Death and Final Wish
Mickelson died in 2016. AmoMama reports she died in December, surrounded by her family. Shannon has told reporters her mother died of sepsis caused by bed sores, along with a malignant tumor. One report says K.C. later wrote that his mother died in June 2017, while Shannon has maintained it was 2016. The year used here is 2016.
Before she died, Mickelson told her daughter she regretted never getting to see the world. Shannon asked whether she could take her mother’s ashes on a trip around the globe. In an interview with AmoMama, Shannon recalled her mother answering, “Shannon, go see the world and let the world see you.” Shannon began the journey in January 2017, and it helped inspire Sumanah.
The Family Dispute That Followed
Mickelson’s name came up again amid a bitter dispute over her former husband’s care. In June 2023, Shannon publicly alleged that Amos was a victim of elder abuse and financial exploitation by her brother. K.C. was arrested in July 2023 in New Jersey over alleged threats against his sister. Sportskeeda reported the arrest.
Amos died on August 21, 2024, at age 84. A death certificate reported by TMZ lists congestive heart failure as the cause. Afterward, Shannon said she learned of his death from media reports. She hired a lawyer to look into his final months of care.
Shannon has said the conflict with her brother began over their mother’s care and estate. Amos’s longtime publicist, Belinda Foster, has disputed the abuse claims. She said law enforcement officers checked on Amos on several occasions and confirmed his well-being. All of these claims remain allegations, not established facts.
Conclusion
Noel J. Mickelson was never a public figure herself. She was an artist and horsewoman whose life intersected with a famous actor’s during an era of sweeping social change. Her marriage to John Amos lasted about ten years, and she raised two children who built careers in entertainment and wellness. Her story lives on mainly through those children’s words. Many details of her life remain private, and this article leaves them out rather than guess.
FAQs
Who was John Amos’s first wife?
Noel J. “Noni” Mickelson, an artist, equestrian, and craftswoman. She was the mother of his two children, Shannon and K.C.
How long were they married?
Sportskeeda reports they were married from 1965 to 1975, about ten years.
How did they meet?
Shannon has said they met at Colorado State University, where Amos was a student and football player.
When did Noel Mickelson die?
She died in 2016, according to Shannon. AmoMama places her death in December of that year. One report says K.C. cited a different date.
What was Mickelson’s final wish?
She wished she had seen more of the world. Shannon began carrying her ashes on a trip around the globe in January 2017.
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