The American hostage killed by a US drone strike was a grandfather and Columbia University grad who spent more than 30 years serving some of the most impoverished parts of the world.
At an age when others are ready for retirement, Warren Weinstein left his family to work for the US development firm J.E. Austin Associates in 2004, leading small-business growth in rural Pakistan.
He found a love for the culture, becoming proficient in Urdu and occasionally wearing local dress.
“He loved and respected the Pakistani people and their culture . . . and did everything he could to show his utmost and profound respect for the region,” his wife, Elaine, said Thursday.
Weinstein was kidnapped days before he was to leave Pakistan.
Gunmen broke into his Lahore home Aug. 13, 2011. He remained captive until his death at age 73.
In video appeals distributed by al Qaeda, Weinstein is seen saying his captors were giving him adequate food and care, including medications for a heart disease.
Before Pakistan, he worked in jobs for the US government and nonprofits overseas, such as directing the Peace Corps in Togo and financial advising for the World Bank.
Alfonso Lenhardt, acting administrator for the US Agency for International Development, said that with J.E Austin, Weinstein was working with the agency to improve the lives of Pakistanis.
“He dedicated his career to helping poor people around the world,” Lenhardt said Thursday.
“Many of our staff remember him well, and we feel a deep loss at this tragic time.”
Weinstein earned a doctorate in law and economics from Columbia in 1970 and taught political science at SUNY Oswego before settling in Rockville, Md., with his wife and daughters, Jennifer and Alisa.
While overseas, he kept in touch by sending “oodles” of postcards and writing letters, Alisa told the Washington Post in 2013.
“Warren spent his entire life working to benefit people across the globe and loved the work that he did to make people’s lives better,” his wife said Thursday.