Marilyn Fernberger (13 August 1927 – 2 May 2012) was the first female co-chair of the U.S. Pro-Indoor Tennis Championship. Her "enthusiasm and dedication for the sport of tennis" earned her induction into the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.

Early life and education

Marilyn Fernberger (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Friedman) was born to David and Edith Friedman on 13 August 1927. Marilyn grew up in the Mount Airy neighborhood of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, PA. She attended and graduated from the

Philadelphia High School for Girls Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the sixth-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 1,603,797 in the 2020 census. The city is the urb ...

. During her time there she participated in

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

, and was on the

swim Swim or SWIM may refer to: Movement and sport * Swim, a fad dance * Aquatic locomotion, the act of biologically propelled motion through a liquid medium * Human swimming, the useful or recreational activity of movement through water * Swimming ( ...

team. After high school, she went to college at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

, where she met her husband, Edward Fernberger. There she studied English and political science. She graduated and received her bachelor's degree for those subjects in 1948.

Career

Fernberger became the first female co-chair of a professional tennis tournament, alongside her husband and co-chair Edward (Ed) Fernberger. The

United States Tennis Association The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tenn ...

(USTA) began the Fernbergers' career in tennis, as they first became involved with the Philadelphia district and Middle States section. They decided to turn the Philadelphia Invitational Indoor, an 8-player male tennis tournament hosted at St. Joseph's Memorial Field House, into the

U.S. Pro Indoor The U.S. Professional Indoor Championships, also known as U.S. Pro Indoor, was a professional tennis tournament founded in 1962 as the Philadelphia Invitational Indoor Tennis Championships. The tournament was held in Philadelphia, United State ...

hosted at the

Spectrum A spectrum (: spectra or spectrums) is a set of related ideas, objects, or properties whose features overlap such that they blend to form a continuum. The word ''spectrum'' was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of co ...

. The U.S. Indoor Pro was part of the

World Championship Tennis World Championship Tennis (WCT) was one of the principal organizing bodies of men's professional tennis headquartered at the WCT Lakeway World of Tennis facility, Austin, Texas, United States from 1968 to 1989. It administered the WCT Circuit a w ...

Circuit and the

Grand Prix Tour The ITF Grand Prix Circuit was a professional tennis tour for male players founded in 1970 as the ILTF Grand Prix Tennis Circuit it was administered by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and ran annually until 1989 when it and the rival ...

. During her time as co-chair with her husband, from 1968 to 1992, attendance increased from around 2,500 attendees to over 95,000 including players representing over 20 countries. She is credited for bringing women's professional tennis to Philadelphia, as she chaired the

Virginia Slims Virginia Slims is an American brand of cigarettes owned by Altria. It is manufactured by Philip Morris USA (in the United States) and Philip Morris International (outside the United States). Virginia Slims are narrower ( circumference) than stan ...

tournament from 1970 to 1979. Ed and Marilyn Fernberger were nicknamed the "dynamic duo" of the tennis world, as they continued to conduct and promote both youth and adult tennis tournaments. Marilyn was able to give back to her community and tennis by bringing tennis to the youth of many communities in Philadelphia, especially less-fortunate children. Through fundraising and non-profit organizations, the couple brought free public park tennis programs and other youth programs to Philadelphia.

Achievements

In 2002, Fernberger was given the Chairman's Award and inducted into the

International Tennis Hall of Fame The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It honors both players and other contributors to the sport of tennis. The complex, the former Newport Casino, includes a museum, 13 grass tennis courts, an ...

for her outstanding service as a board member to the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Following this achievement, she also was recognized as Strathmore's Professional of the Year in 2006 for her work consulting in the world of both sports and arts.

Titles and achievements

* Strathmore's Professional of the Year (2006) for Consulting/Sports and Arts * International Tennis Hall of Fame Chairman's Award * Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce * Lifetime Member Board of Directors, International Tennis Hall of Fame * Board of Directors, Philadelphia Sports Congress * Board of Directors,

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at ...

Associates * Past President, Rodin Museum of Art * Co-chair, U.S. Pro Indoor Tennis Championship

Personal life

Marilyn married her husband and business partner Edward Fernberger on 21 June 1947. They had children Edward Jr., Ellen, and Jim Fernberger. During their careers in the professional tennis industry, both Marilyn and Edward got to know players well as they welcomed them into their home, and Marilyn became close friends with the players and their wives while observing the tournaments. Marilyn and Edward once hosted an indoor open with a variety of tennis players in attendance.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernberger, Marilyn 1927 births 2012 deaths