Sharon Rebecca (Kriel) Knox passed from this life on Febuary 7, 2024 at home in Rogers County, Oklahoma. Sharon was born in Cushing, Oklahoma on June 27, 1950. She was the third of three daughters born to Karl William Kriel and Olive Rosalea (McCaslin) Kriel. At the time of her birth, her family lived straight north of Perkins less than a mile north of the 177/33 intersection on the Oklahoma State University Horticulture Research Station where her father worked as a Research Assistant for the University. She lived in this house until she graduated high school and started college. She married Dickey (Dick) Lee Knox of Carney, Oklahoma on May 27, 1970. They lived In Carney and commuted to Stillwater to attend the University. Dick obtained his bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering in December 1972. Sharon obtained her bachelors degree in Elementary Education shortly after. In early 1973 they moved to Tulsa to begin work. Their first son was born in June of 1974. In the spring of 1975 they bought their first home in Sand Springs. Their second son was born in June of 1977. Due to a change in Dick's job they moved to the Claremore area. Dick retired from Baker Hughes Centrilift in July of 2010.

Sharon was preceeded in death by her parents, brother, Charles William Kriel, and brother-in-law Robert Paulus. Survivors include her husband, two sons, Russell Lee Knox and his wife Erin of Collinsville, and Geoffrey Aaron Knox of Bristow, sisters, Carolyn Sue Paulus of Easton, Pa., and Patricia Lynn Opitz and her husband, Michael, of Locust Grove, brother James Randolf Kriel and his wife Beth Ann of Edmond, Oklahoma, and two grandsons.

Sharon's cousin Terry Brown wrote the following:

Sharon was a gentle soul, a beautiful soul. Our families frequently visited each other when we were children.

There are two things about Sharon that stand out in my mind during those childhood and early adult years. She had a unique and contagious laugh and beautiful, long red hair. And as the years went by, I discovered that the Lord had created her soul and spirit with the same type of beauty, a beauty of kindness, compassion, goodness, and gentleness.

I sometimes think that God looks at the world and says...

"I need someone filled with My holy love and laughter and lightheartedness who is willing to share with others all that I have blessed them with. I need someone special who will serve others, expecting nothing in return. I need someone whose life will be a living painting of Me. And I know who that "Someone" is. Her name is Sharon. She will be my gift to the world."

And so she was. And she will continue to be a precious gift for those, like myself, who have been touched by her life and seen the face of the Lord in her.