Peter Biehl, who along with his wife channeled the pain of their daughter’s murder by a mob in South Africa into a passion for alleviating poverty and violence there, has died. He was 59.
Mr. Biehl, a Chicago native who lived in La Quinta, Calif., died Sunday of colon cancer.
In 1993, the Biehls’ 26-year-old daughter Amy, a Fulbright scholar working with disadvantaged South Africans, was stoned and stabbed as a crowd shouted anti-white slogans. Four men were convicted.
The Biehls supported the killers’ amnesty as South Africa moved from unrest to a post-apartheid government. They hired two of the convicted men to work for the Amy Biehl Foundation Trust, which since 1997 has raised $5 million for social programs and business projects in and around Cape Town.
Compassionate and always full of ideas for new ventures, the Biehls worked as a team.
The foundation has funded job-training and after-school programs that provide food, tutors, arts instruction and recreation for youth.
Mr. Biehl, who left his marketing career to devote his time to South Africa, wanted the foundation to do more than just throw money at the poor, said his wife, Linda. He wanted to provide services that South Africans said they wanted, create jobs and find ways that the foundation could sustain itself by generating income.
The foundation, which employs 87 people, built a golf driving range outside Cape Town to provide youth recreation and jobs. A chain of bakeries produces Amy’s Bread: The Bread of Hope and Peace.
Besides jobs and cash, the bakeries provide a message with each sale: The bags have HIV and AIDS prevention information printed on them.
Besides his wife, Mr. Biehl is survived by three children and three grandchildren.
