Standing Tall Superb Character Shines As Garner Perseveres In Midst Of Tragedy

For many people, last Oct. 15 was just another Friday of high school football and hijinks.

For Keith Garner, it was the day he said farewell to his father, but still attended to his duties as Chewelah football team captain.

In a Tinseltown script, Chewelah would have defeated Medical Lake in the big game that night. Keith Garner’s interception would have saved the game. Chewelah’s players would have dedicated the game to the memory of Steve Garner.

Reality’s version had Medical Lake romping to a 42-8 win. Yet no outcome, win or loss, could change the way Steve and Shannon Garner’s son stands out in a crowd.

As Joe Feist, Garner’s basketball coach at Chewelah, puts it: “In all the years I’ve (coached), I can honestly say I don’t know if I’ve ever met such a solid kid.”

Garner, the second of seven children, carries a 3.85 grade-point average. Among his scholastic honors are student of the month (twice), teachers’ choice award in English, and the Rising Star Award.

His community projects have included helping with the Vietnam Moving Wall and putting up flags for holidays.

“He’s always been a leader, one who will take on a project,” Shannon Garner said. “He’ll take charge and make it right.”

Garner hasn’t missed an athletic practice in six years. He didn’t skip practice the day his father died in a logging accident last October. He joined his team for the game at Medical Lake, hours after his father’s funeral.

“I figured he would have wanted me to keep practicing and playing,” Garner said of his father. “But that was tough. That was my lowest moment.”

The days are easier now, four months later. Garner said he put aside his grief, content with the belief that his father is in a better place.

Chewelah football coach Roy Albertson recently left town for a week for his mother’s funeral. A snowstorm moved through town, but Albertson’s walk was cleared by someone who needed no prodding.

“Keith was raised right,” Albertson said. “He has all the right values… . He has a good relationship with all his teachers.”

Garner’s basketball team leads the Great Northern League heading into Tuesday’s home showdown against second-place Deer Park. Although he starts for the Cougars, Garner isn’t a big-time player. His future is with Eastern Washington University football, learning from ex-Chewelah linebacker Greg Belzer.

Nate Garner already attends EWU, but Keith’s older brother drives to Chewelah to coach ninth-grade football. With five children still at home, Shannon Garner will miss the leadership of her college-bound son.

“He’s always been a kid who wouldn’t cut corners,” she said. “I’ve always appreciated that. I see that trait, as he approaches adulthood, as one that will take him wherever he wants to go.”