Father of Amy Biehl remembered for his caring

Deepa Bharath

For the last nine years of his life, former Newport Beach resident

Peter Biehl spent his time helping the downtrodden in the country where

his daughter was slain.

Amy Biehl, a Newport Harbor High School graduate, was killed in 1993

by a mob of angry black youths in South Africa. She was 26.

Her father, Peter Biehl, died Sunday of a complication resulting from

colon surgery, said his wife, Linda. He was 59.

Linda Biehl said she would always remember her husband as a “confident

person, a great speaker and a caring gentleman.”

“He never really liked the spotlight,” she said. “But the times he was

under the spotlight, he was really good at it.”

Since Amy’s notorious death, the couple had traveled all over the

world spreading their daughter’s legacy.

Amy, a Fulbright scholar and Stanford University student, was helping

people to register to vote in the racially torn country when she was

stoned and stabbed to death.

Her death earned nationwide and worldwide headlines. She was just days

from coming home from South Africa.

The greatness of Peter and Linda Biehl was in their ability to forgive

even those who brutally murdered their daughter, said Ski Harrison, a

friend of the family who helped the couple start the Amy Biehl

Foundation.

“Peter was one of the most caring and sensitive people I’ve ever

known,” said Harrison, who first met the Biehls when they moved to

Newport Beach in 1985.

“Instead of having bitterness and hate in his heart, he had love,” he

said. “He turned something hurtful and negative into something very

positive.”

The couple have lived in La Quinta since 1992. But Linda said she

plans to move back to Newport Beach, where her son, Zach, coaches

baseball at Newport Harbor High School.

Harrison said even the criminals were amazed at the Biehls’ positive

attitude.

“Somehow Peter understood why they did it,” he said. “He understood

the political situation in that country. Not many parents would, but he

did.”

The four men who killed Amy were given amnesty by a commission in

1998, a decision the Biehls supported. When the Biehls weren’t in South

Africa, fulfilling their daughter’s unfulfilled goals, they had a long

list of speaking engagements.

They have been featured as guests at various universities. Locally,

they have spoken at Orange Coast College and, most recently, at Corona

del Mar High School.

Peter Biehl is also survived by daughters Kim Biehl and Molly Biehl

Corbin, and three grandchildren. A private memorial service will be held.

* Deepa Bharath covers public safety and courts. She may be reached at

(949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at o7 deepa.bharath@latimes.comf7 .