Coretta King Adds Name to Those in Mourning for Biehl : Condolences: Newport Beach woman is honored at Washington march and in South Africa.

It was supposed to be the joyous day Amy Elizabeth Biehl came home from South Africa to hug her family and enjoy dinner at her favorite Mexican restaurant.

Instead Saturday, the 26-year-old Fulbright scholar, who was killed by a mob of black youths in the Guguletu township last week, was honored in Washington during the 30th anniversary of the historic civil rights march on the nation’s capital.

And in the township where she died, mournful black residents spent Saturday planning a memorial Mass for Biehl, hoping that her violent death will somehow bring peace to troubled South Africa.

For her family and friends in Newport Beach, the day was filled with condolences from down the street and around the world, perhaps none more poignant than a note from the wife of the slain civil rights leader who led the march on Washington, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

“As I march I will, of course, remember Martin, but I shall also remember Amy’s valiant effort and supreme contribution,” Coretta Scott King wrote in the note that arrived Saturday morning. “Although there is pain and sorrow, you should take great pride in her selfless dedication to such a noble cause.

“Your loss is shared by all people of conscience in South Africa . . . and around the world,” King wrote. “People who, like Amy, have devoted their lives to the quest for worldwide freedom, peace and justice.”

Linda and Peter Biehl, the young woman’s parents, appreciated the outpouring of support and sympathy.

Their home was flooded with phone calls from well-wishers: A stranger was willing to come clean the house and wash dishes, and a neighbor they’d never met offered rooms where out-of-town mourners could stay.

But it all seemed strange and unreal.

“It’s a beautiful day, and she would have loved to come in today,” Linda Biehl said. “To think of my little girl (dead) is very difficult. It just seems like it’s not real. Can this really be my daughter? It can, but where? And how? It’s just a little bit overwhelming.”

At the anniversary march in Washington, a half a dozen of Biehl’s friends from college and work carried a banner honoring her memory, and a South African speaker paid her tribute, family members said.

In the Guguletu township, blacks spent Saturday planning a memorial service of song, dance, prayer and poetry at a church a few blocks from where Biehl was slain in a racially motivated attacked Wednesday as she drove three black colleagues home.

“The people decided that we did not want simply to remain in a state of shock, but that we should give life to her aspirations, as a living monument,” said the Rev. Basil van Rensburg of St. Gabriel’s Catholic Church, who will preside at the Sunday service. “The aim of the service will be to stop violence and sloganeering and to work for peace.”

Rensburg, a longtime campaigner against apartheid whose church complex houses enrichment courses for young blacks, said in an interview Saturday that Biehl’s death could be the catalyst for reconciliation between blacks and whites in South Africa.

Allan Boesak, chairman of the African National Congress in the Western Cape region, has organized a meeting in Guguletu township Monday night for everyone in the community who has been affected by violence.

Plans are also underway for a memorial service Friday in Orange County. Biehl is being cremated in South Africa and her ashes will be flown home.

Wilgoren reported from Orange County and Heard from Cape Town, South Africa.