There is a theory known as Six Degrees of Separation that proposes everyone on planet Earth can be connected to any other person through a chain of acquaintances that has no more than five intermediaries. So, for example, I know somebody who knows somebody, etc., that would eventually know Joe Biden (or anyone else you want to plug in there). I know this sounds fantastic, but a number of scientific studies have shown that this theory has some legs.

I considered this theory as I reflected on my interaction with Garth Everett, former PA State Representative for the 84th District, who passed away on January 28th this year. Garth served seven terms, succeeding Brett Feese. Here is where the connections begin.

Brett Feese was a student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in the early 1970s, the same time that I was a student there. We did not run in the same circles, but there were not that many of us from Lycoming County at IUP at that time, and I vaguely remember us bumping into one another a couple of times.

Brett Feese had a protege that was Garth Everett, and when Feese fell into a corruption scandal that sent him to prison, Garth was in a position to run for his PA State House position in 2006. Just four weeks after my wife and I returned to the United States after living in the Eastern European country of Latvia for sixteen years, we voted in person (and not absentee) in the November election. Garth Everett was the first individual we voted for to represent us in Harrisburg.

In the next few years, Garth Everett and I met on several occasions. I found myself quite impressed with Garth because of the challenge he inherited. Walking behind the footsteps of Brett Feese was like walking in a landmine field. Feese had a very high position in Harrisburg and brought some significant grants to his District, but he also got caught with his hand in the till. Given that, Garth had to demonstrate the highest integrity possible and, at the same time, do everything he could to help his District that other representatives in Harrisburg probably believed had already more than their fair share of the state’s pork barrel.

And somehow, Garth Everett pulled it off. He served his PA congressional district faithfully and did it with character and integrity. Perhaps his Air Force ROTC training while getting his bachelor’s degree from Penn State in 1976 and then serving twenty years as a navigator on a KC-135 refueling aircraft for the Air Force helped him to know how to handle challenges. He retired as a lieutenant colonel and went on to graduate from law school and became a solicitor for several municipalities in Lycoming County.

Another one of those “Six Degrees” pops up again because I was in the United States Air Force at the same time as Garth. Our paths did not cross at that time; however, I would bet money that there were several Air Force folks that we both knew. But beyond that, fellow vets in the same service share a certain bond.

The one conversation that I remember best was sometime around 2009 when the state districts were being realigned, and Garth would no longer be my state representative. I was considering running for the position, and he called me and encouraged me to do so. I appreciated his candor, and his advice was quite helpful. As it turned out, the redistricting was delayed, so Garth remained our representative, which got me off the hook (thank God!) Plus, Garth could continue to do the great job in Harrisburg that he had been doing.

It was a bit surprising when he stepped down, but rumor had it that his health was failing. It was quite a shock to all of us when Garth died on his 69th birthday. Our hearts go out to his wife, Sue, daughters Corrine and Megan, and the rest of his extended family. He was a man whose “six degrees” went far and wide.