We have been notified of the death of Mike by his daughter Dani, who writes...

On Thursday 15th May 2025 Mike Garner passed away with his family by his side. He was involved in a cycling accident the Sunday beforehand and sadly never recovered from his injuries. Mike leaves behind wife Carla, children Alex and Dani and stepdaughter Alexa; between them they have four children and a fifth on the way.  

Mike was born in Stretford, Greater Manchester in 1953. His parents moved their young family to Petersfield in 1958 to run Herne Farm Dairy alongside Mike’s grandparents and aunt and uncle. Mike started at Churcher’s College in 1964 with children Alex and Dani following his lead and attending two years later.  

During his career, Mike spent 53 years in the Petrol Retail industry with his first site, Rails Lane Garage (Jet) opening in 1972 on Hayling Island. Alongside brother Tim Garner, Mike owned up to eight petrol filling stations during the height of Garner Group Holding’s success which included the original North and Southbound sites on the A3 at Liphook. The brothers have also won Forecourt Trader of the Year twice during their careers together.  

Mike was also heavily involved in the Petrol Retail Association and joined it’s Behind the scenes of the industry, Mike first joined the Petrol Retail Association’s Wetstock Committee in 1993 and remained part of the Technical Committee (as it became known in 2010) until his passing. He also sat on the Jet Dealer Council from 1990 until 2008, including Chairing the Council for a number of years. 

The final two businesses were sold in September 2023 and since then Mike focused his time on a house renovation project with son Alex and a larger-scale building project with Tim, while also spending as much time as possible with his grandchildren, whom he shared an incredibly close bond with. 

Physical health and fitness played a huge role in Mike’s life. He was a part of Petersfield Rugby Club since 1970 and during this time captained the 2nd XV team on numerous occasions and even played alongside son Alex in a veteran’s game. Mike trained at Body Conditioning in South Harting for over 22 years and on his 70th birthday he did 70 full chin ups in one hour, totally unaided. He also regularly participated in time trial racing with local group a3crg and in addition to weekly social rides, cycled with the Petersfield Triathlon Club on a regular basis.  

Mike’s family would like to thank everyone for their support and kind words over the last few weeks the continued support of friends, family and the local community and in memory of Mike they have set up a JustGiving page to raise money for Smile4Wessex, the charitable organisation supporting the Wessex Neurological Centre at Southampton General Hospital where he Mike was treated with such care and dedication after his accident. 

https://www.justgiving.com/page/mikegarner