Father of Amy Biehl remembered for his caring
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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 [email protected] .
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