John Opie never did anything halfway.

A strong-willed man with intense political passions, he was forever writing legislators, donating to various campaigns or researching issues. He also was a fiercely independent man who didn't like being told what to do.

He died Feb. 8 of a heart attack at age 75. But his sons think the real cause of death was Parkinson's disease, which was diagnosed a few weeks earlier, and the limitations that placed on his mobility and independence.

"He didn't have much freedom in the rehab facility," said his son, Greg Opie, of Golden. "Even if he couldn't, physically, get out of bed, he didn't like being told that."

Mr. Opie, of Golden, spent his entire professional career as a social worker with Denver Public Schools. He retired in 1992.

He was born Sept. 24, 1933, in Grand Forks, N.D., to Ross and Calanthe Opie. His father was a radio pioneer in North Dakota, and in his later years, Mr. Opie would host his own radio talk show, Out of the West, a political call-in show that aired Saturdays on KHNC-AM (1360) in Windsor.

The family later moved to Fargo, and Mr. Opie graduated from Fargo Central High School in 1952. He sought to join the Air Force after graduation, but he was turned down for being "underweight."

By 1953, a heavier Mr. Opie, bulked up on milk shakes and bananas, finally enlisted and was stationed in Okinawa during the Korean War.

His final posting in the Air Force was at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, where he stayed after his enlistment was up. He got involved at Trinity United Methodist Church downtown, which had an active ministry with orphans - the beginning of Mr. Opie's long involvement with children in need.

He returned to North Dakota to attend college. He first had thoughts of becoming an architect, but an infamous act of mass murder in 1955 changed his mind.

In that year, John Gilbert Graham put a bomb in his mother's suitcase before she boarded a flight from Denver to Portland. The airliner blew up. Forty-four people died. It was later determined Graham was seeking revenge for the way his mother treated him as a child.

"Bombing that airliner really bothered him," Greg Opie said. "He started thinking, 'What could I do to prevent a tragedy like that?' "

He went on to study sociology and psychology at North Dakota State University, then got a master's degree in social work from the University of Texas. After graduation, he settled in Denver and landed the job with DPS.

It was in Denver where he met his future wife, Nancy. They later divorced.

Mr. Opie was devoted to families - his and other people's. In summers, he worked with migrant families. At times, he took in foster children.

"He was there for anyone who needed a home," Greg Opie said. "As younger kids, we didn't always understand. But there were all these people's lives he touched."

In addition to son Greg Opie, Mr. Opie is survived by son George, of Williamsburg, Va, two sisters, Suzanne Parries, of Jamestown, N.D., and Carolyn Motter, of Hope, N.D.; and eight grandchildren.