July 14, 2007 – It is with immense sadness that we announce that Mike Friebus passed away at Schneider Regional Medical Center on July 10, at age 46. A 27-year resident of the Virgin Islands, Mike worked at Offshore Marine as a senior Yamaha technician.
He was born on Sept. 5, 1960 and grew up in St. Helena Bay, a small coastal village in South Africa. He completed high school in 1978 and served in the South African Army for two years. Always a free spirit, he left South Africa to sail across the Atlantic, up the coast of South America, and eventually settled in St. Thomas, where he married and had two children, Ashlee, now 19, and Andy, 9.
Michael joined Offshore Marine in 1987 and continued on to become one of the most highly rated Yamaha technicians in the Caribbean.
In 2006 he was a member of his cousin Paul Friebus' mechanical pit crew when the team set four Bonneville Salt Flats land speed records at Speed Week on a vintage Harley Davidson Flathead motorcycle.
Michael is survived by his sons: Ashlee and Andy; sisters: Diane and Annette; and father, Desmond Friebus.
A memorial event and celebration of Mike's life will take place on Saturday, Aug. 4. Please check www.Just4Mike.com for details of the event.
