Oklahoma State University Athletics
Former OSU Athletic Director Passes Away
April 06, 2007 | General
Garner, a 1965 graduate of TCU, worked for several newspapers following graduation before becoming the Horned Frogs' sports information director for a number of years. He later served as assistant athletics director at Texas Tech and West Texas State. Garner then became the director of athletics at Appalachian State for eight years and hired current Texas football coach Mack Brown as ASU's head coach in 1983.
Garner came to OSU from Applachian State and in his first year, Oklahoma State's athletic department enjoyed unprecedented succss. The Cowboy and Cowgirl teams claimed eight Big Eight Conference team titles in 1990-91, more than OSU had ever won in a single academic year.
With an emphasis on academic success and NCAA compliance, as well as athletic accomplishment, Garner's first year was marked by more than Big Eight and NCAA titles. In February of 1992, Garner kicked off an ambitious $20 million fund-raising campaign and in June of that year, former OSU All-American tailback Thurman Thomas answered the call with a gift that eventually totaled $1 million.
After Garner left OSU, he became the executive vice president of administration for the 1994 Shreveport Pirates of the Canadian Football League. In the mid-1990s, he and his wife, Genny, relocated their family to Arizona when he became regional vice president for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. In 2003, he was named chairman and president of Sports World, Inc., an Indianapolis-based company which began in 1978 as part of the NFL's chapel program.
In late summer of 2005, Garner had a lengthy hospital stay following the removal of a benign brain tumor in August. Post-operative conditions kept him in intensive care for 10 days and his health problems continued over the next year and a half until his death.
Services will be held on Saturday, April 7, at 2 p.m. at the Southside Presbyterian Church in Tucson. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to an endowment/scholarship fund in Garner's name for the Girl's Fellowship of Christian Athletes summer surf camp (FCA, Attn: Debbie Halliday, 10924 Whitaker Ave., Granada Hills, CA, 91344).
