ARIZONA, USA — Frank Shankwitz, the founder of the Make-A-Wish foundation and a former Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) Trooper, has died.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety mourns the loss of retired Officer Frank Shankwitz. He was dedicated to AZDPS as well as Arizona families & children. The Department has lost several venerable retirees in the last twelve months, & the AZDPS family grieves for each of them. pic.twitter.com/myLw1cgqwT
— Dept. of Public Safety (@Arizona_DPS) January 24, 2021
“He was dedicated to AZDPS as well as Arizona families & children,” DPS stated in an online post. They continued, “The Department has lost several venerable retirees in the last twelve months, & the AZDPS family grieves for each of them.”
Hollie Costello, the Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations at Make-A-Wish, also confirmed the news.
“Thanks to all of our generous founders, more than 500,000 children with critical illnesses worldwide have had the chance to experience the long-lasting, life-changing benefits of a wish,” Costello said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the Shankwitz family.”
The Start of the Make-A-Wish Foundation
Shankwitz reportedly got the idea to start Make-A-Wish after he and other officers from the Arizona Highway Patrol. They granted the wish of a 7-year-old boy named Chris, who was dying from leukemia—by letting him be a highway patrol motorcycle officer.
Unfortunately, Chris died a few days after his wish was granted, and Shankwitz and his wife Kitty founded the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Since the inception of Make-A-Wish, has granted the wished of more than 500,000 sick children.
Early life and law enforcement career
Shankwitz was raised in northern Arizona and graduated from Prescott High School in 1961 and Phoenix College in 1970. A U.S. Air Force veteran, Shankwitz was stationed in England, and received an Honorable Discharge in 1965. Upon returning home, Frank was employed by Motorola, Inc. for seven years.
In 1972, Shankwitz started his career with the Arizona Department of Public Safety and was assigned to the Arizona Highway Patrol as a car officer assigned to Yuma, Arizona. It was there that his interest in working with children began as a coach for the Special Olympics program.
“Wish Man”: The book and movie
In 2018, Shankwitz wrote a book titled “Wish Man.” That book became a movie in 2019.
“Wish Man” can be seen on Netflix and our very own Randy Sutton played a small role in the movie that was filmed in and around Prescott, Arizona.
Randy said that Frank was “my friend, my mentor, and a proud member of the Board of Directors of The Wounded Blue. If ever there was a true American hero, it was Frank Shankwitz.”
