An elite U.S. college hockey player in life, posthumously Mike Serba scored a $23,000 goal for sick kids with help from his family and friends.The Mike Serba Memorial Golf Tournament remembers the 25-year-old Etobicoke man who was killed a year ago after being hit in the head with a brick near a Bloor Street West bank machine.
Serba's dad, Jim, and three friends presented tournament proceeds Monday morning to SickKids Foundation officials in the atrium of Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children.
"Mike just really loved kids," Jim Serba said. "He worked at a hockey school for younger kids in his youth."
Serba aspired to a career in business, his father said.
Serba was home from Norwich University in Vermont last Nov. 24 for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday when he went out for drinks with friends in Bloor West Village.
Around midnight, he left a pub to go to a nearby bank machine to withdraw some cash, where a stranger assaulted him. He and his friends went in search of the attacker. Someone - the same man, police allege - struck him in the head with a brick.
Serba died several days later after being in a coma. But he lives on in the four recipients who received his heart, liver, kidneys and pancreas.
A suspect was later arrested.
Michael Serba was a disciplined young man, athletic, focused. At 25, he was completing his MBA at Norwich; he'd gotten there on a hockey scholarship. Graduation had awaited him this past spring.
"Mike got through high school on his charms," his dad said, of his son's years at Richview Collegiate. "Norwich is a small school. I think he knew he'd be watched. He became studious there."
Norwich U granted Serba his MBA posthumously. The university community held its own memorial.
"We talked right before Mike's death about how much Mike really loved his teammates, how there was such a high percentage of really great guys," his tearful father said. "He really loved being with them."
Friend Danny Polito, 26, said while Mike was a better player than most of his Toronto friends, he still played the occasional beer-league game.
"When he came home that Thursday, we played," Polito said. "Mike was wearing rusty skates, scraping the rust off on the bench. We were just having some fun. He was excited to come back up and see the guys."
Another friend, Mike Sheridan, 26, was with Serba when he was assaulted.
"It's tough. Tough on those of us who were with him, and on those who weren't," he said. "No one got to say goodbye."
Serba's friends decided to hold a memorial golf tournament in tribute, and to raise money for a good cause.
Serba's famous "straight-legged dance," center stage at many parties, Polito said, is the tournament's graphic.
"People would meet Mike once and say, 'Make sure Serba's there' for the next get-together," Sheridan said.
"Mike touched people. He understood people."
They created a website - www.imissmike.com.
Sheridan, and other friends, worked the phones and hopped on Facebook to spread the word. In the end, 136 golfers took to the links Sept. 29 at Royal Woodbine Golf Club. Another 45 people attended the dinner.
Several hockey legends turned out to play and contribute, including former Maple Leafs Johnny Bower, Bill Derlago and Mark Osborne.
"I'll be very happy if we match this year's proceeds in next year's tournament," scheduled for Sept. 20, 2008 at Royal Woodbine. "We'll keep giving it to SickKids Foundation," Jim Serba said.
Tributes also took the form of tattoos. One Norwich U teammate got a tattoo of a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey with Serba's name on it. Serba was a huge Leafs fan. In fact, half the team memorialized Serba with a tattoo, his father said.
On Jim Serba's left arm is a tattooed portrait of his late son: "It took me a year, but I got it."
Huge wall-sized posters of Serba, in uniform playing the sport he loved, hang on his dad's walls.
"I can't explain it. It just makes me feel better that they're there."
Nicholas Crowdis, 23, of no fixed address, is facing second-degree murder charges. Crowdis' trial is set to begin May 20 next year.