Bill Montee Opie Dies at 81; Was Active Poway Resident and President of San Diego Board of Realtors

Bill Montee Opie—an inventor and former president of the San Diego Board of Realtors—died July 30, according to a U-T San Diego obituary.

Opie was 81.

“A past president of the San Diego Board of Realtors, a prominent member of the Rancho Bernardo Rotary Club and an office holder in every organization to which he belonged, Bill's love of people contributed to his success,” the obituary said.

Before living in Poway, Opie lived in his hometown of Sandusky, Ohio and held many patents while working for his family plastics business.

Opie married Selma Zarakov, who worked as a professor at Palomar College. Together they established scholarships at Palomar College, UC Riverside and the Rancho Bernardo Rotary Club, the obituary said.

Funeral services are set for Aug. 17, 1:30 p.m. at the Terraces of Los Gatos, where Bill and his wife spent the last nine years, according to the obituary.