Local Tennis Enthusiast Dies on Court

Michael Ferebee, a Norwood resident and tennis aficionado who played regularly on the courts at Williamsbridge Oval, died last Wednesday after suffering a massive heart attack during a match there. He was 63 years old.

Ferebee was such a regular sight on the oval’s courts that he was given his own key to them, said sister Cheryl Ferebee. “He was always there,” she said. “When tennis season started, they would find him there early in the morning and late at night.”

“He was a competitive player, a good player,” said Robert Tilitz, Ferebee’s regular tennis partner. “Mike usually got the best of me, but we never exchanged a cross word. He was a gentleman and a sportsman.”

Ferebee is survived by his father, Anthony U. Ferebee, former wife Hyacinth Ferebee, two sons, Michael A. Ferebee, Jr. and Galaal Maliek Ferebee, brother Carlton E. Ferebee, sister Cheryl A. Ferebee, three grandchildren, two nieces, three nephews, three grandnephews, two grandnieces, aunts, cousins, and other relatives and friends.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.