The office of Sharon Knutson-Felix is small and modest, but adorned with family photos and plaques in recognition of her commitment to the work she does.

Knutson-Felix, an Arcadia resident, is the executive director of the 100 Club of Arizona.

The non-profit organization provides financial assistance to families of public safety officers and firefighters who have been seriously injured or killed in the line of duty.

She has held the position since 2001, but her mission began years ago.

Knutson-Felix lost her husband, Doug Knutson, an officer with the state Department of Public Safety, in 1998, when he was killed in the line of duty.

The 100 Club was the first organization to appear at her door, bearing a check and emotional support.

Knutson-Felix said that was one of the reasons the 100 Club approached her to fill the executive director position.

“I believe I put a face to the mission,” Knutson-Felix said. “I’m able to tell others stories with empathy, understanding and respect.

“It’s kind of like I paid my dues.”

Since taking her position, Knutson-Felix has helped the organization create and launch six benefits and programs. Yearly benefits given out have increased from $100,000 in 2001 to more than $800,000 last year.

Besides her work at the 100 Club, Knutson-Felix said she keeps herself busy with involvement such organizations as the Arizona Critical Incident Stress Management Team and her church support group Soulcare Ministry.

She also assisted in the aftermath of Sept. 11, spending 24 days at ground zero.
Knutson-Felix said she was honored to have helped out in New York after the attacks, which is clear by the photos of NYPD officers she has on display. 
Knutson-Felix said tragedy refocuses a person.

“There’s nowhere to go but up,” she said.

That is what she did in 1983, after her 6-year-old son Ricky was hit by a car and killed in almost the same manner as her husband would be killed 15 years later.
Knutson-Felix does not look for sympathy, she said, nor does she want her message to be centered on grief, but rather on surviving the grief and then healing.

“Anything worth doing is worth a struggle,” Knutson-Felix said.

Knutson-Felix has been a resident of Arcadia since the early 1980s and said she has no intention of leaving.

Her home is fondly referred to as the “cow house,” where it is decorated with massive cow statues on her front lawn. She said she often spots people running up to her front door to take photos of the cows. 

“Arcadia is a balance of wisdom and history,” she said.

“And new and promising.”

The author of “Gifts my Father Gave Me,” Knutson-Felix said she wrote about how she survived the grieving process, endeavored to heal and found love and joy again.

The defining moments in a person’s life are always the most difficult, Knutson-Felix said.

But, “In the worst of situations,” she said, “I’ve always had the best.”

Knutson-Felix has since married David Felix, deputy director of the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

She is the mother of two and grandmother to five.

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