PETER PENDER

101

PETER PENDER

BRIDGE CHAMP, RESORT OWNER

Peter Pender was born in Philadelphia to a wealthy family. In 1960, in his early twenties, he moved to San Francisco; in the 1980s he operated Fife's, a gay and lesbian vacation resort on the Russian River in Guerneville, California. A successful businessman and entrepreneur, Pender was also an internationally recognized contract bridge player. In 1986 in matches in São Paolo, Brazil, he won the contract bridge world championship.

When Pender died of AIDS in November 1990, he was 54 years old and left no survivors. Much of his estate came from a trust fund established by his mother, Ailsa Craig Pender, with the understanding that on her son's death the funds would be distributed to charities of his choice in memory of his father, Howard Pender, an inventor and former dean of the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. Pender left this considerable fortune to Continuum HIV Day Services in San Francisco (an organization for people with HIV and AIDS), to the Triangle Institute in Washington, D.C. (a group devoted to research and education on gay and lesbian civil rights and health matters), and to AmFAR, the American Foundation for AIDS Research (see card 98).

Peter Pender's bequest to AmFAR is the largest that organization has yet received. By mid-1992 it had totaled over $2.25 million, and future distributions were still expected. Mervyn Silverman, the President of AmFAR, said, "The generosity of Mr. Pender has been remarkable. Even in death we value his concern and compassion for other people, and for recognizing the desperate need to find new treatments and ultimately a cure for HIV/AIDS." Next Card 102: DR. JONAS SALK: Scientist