David Herman Opalinsky was an artist and adventurer.  Born in 1949 as the third child of Russian immigrant he was the first to be born in the United States.  His loving parents, Herman and Olga Opal, told him stories of their long trek to the United States and inspired a life of travel and adventure.  A life of travel, compassionate nature, and charisma made him an easy friend and he touched many lives during his 66 years.

Much of David's early years were spent in Shriners Hospitals, where he was treated for arthrogryposis.  This condition affected him from birth, but with their care and inspiration from his parents, he learned early on that his only limitations were those of imagination.  He would spend most of the rest of his life walking with braces and crutches, but never let this define his ambition.  His father instilled a love of nature, camping, hiking, fishing, and canoeing at an early age.  From his mother, he learned stories of his family's trek through Russia, China, and Australia.  Through her, he developed a deep love of art, culture, and humanity that he would practice through his entire life.

As a teenager, he was active in clubs, sports, and social life at McClatchy High School in Sacramento, CA.  This included a year on the varsity track and field team and a spot on the swimming team.  He loved Mad magazine, mystery and science fiction novels, and listened to a lot of jazz.  It was around this time he likely hatched plans for many big adventures, including repurposing the family lawn mower to build a scooter.

After high school, he studied drafting and art at Sacramento State, and met his wife of 19 years - Linda Lee - and continued planning great adventures.  He traveled around California, Central America, and Mexico to study art, geology, and anthropology.  He became an open water scuba diver, taking his certification dives among the sea grasses, sharks, and sea otters of Monterrey Bay.

Grand plans for diving were cut short by a move to the cold waters of Alaska in 1979 with his wife and 2 year-old son, Isaac.  But he replaced these dreams with adventures on dog sleds and skis, canoes and clam digging and king salmon fishing.  As a cartographer in the days before CAD and GIS, he honed his fine-line artistic skills while making comic humor of arcane border disputes between the Soviet Union and the United States.

While he always had a passion for art and art history, it was only after leaving Alaska for Montana in 1987 that he found his calling as a fine artist.  He received a Bachelor's in Fine Arts from Montana State University, finding mentors there that would guide him in his new vocation.  During these years, he also taught his son important culinary lessons, such as the fact that dark meat is best and best eaten off the bone and that jarred tomato sauce is just one ingredient in need of a chef's seasoning.

He pursued his Master's in Fine Arts from the University of Hawaii, where his artistic career took on a third dimension.  Found objects, glass and ceramics emerged in the repertoire, providing opportunities to juxtapose junk and fine art in a gallery setting.  In Hawaii for the first time, art and adventure became one, and while he never settled in Hawaii, he became fully immersed in the culture and would greet friends with a shaka for the rest of his life.

It turns out the life of a fine artist and painter is a difficult one, and while his work bloomed with larger, bolder prints and paintings, he had difficulty finding a permanent position in the US.  David was never one to let adversity or convention define his path.  He beat a new path, arguably one much more difficult, but which would define the rest of his life.  In 1995, he earned a certification as a teacher of English as a foreign language.  He quickly learned not to send out photos with his resume that included his crutches, but after many rejections and false starts, he landed his first job at a foreign language academy in South Korea.

He would spend the next 16 years in Asia, which served as the launching pad for his boldest adventures yet.  He visited friends in Russia, the old family home in Shanghai, and wandered the deserts of Western China.  And he learned that Korea's winters are cold, but the waters of the Philippines are very warm.  He made friends everywhere he went, and especially with Andy Pownall, the operator of a small resort and dive operation on Sangat Island, Philippines.  Over the course of 15 years, David logged over 300 dives with Andy's operation.  Exploring underwater wrecks, swimming with turtles and whale sharks, or drifting along a coral reef, he was never more free or fully capable as when underwater and liberated from gravity.

After successful treatment of cancer in 2008 he found he was unable to keep up with the demands of living, working, and travelling in Asia without the benefit of the Americans with Disabilities Act.  When he started using a wheelchair, the broken down elevators, stairs, and stoops of Beijing became too difficult and he moved to Maryland to be with his son, daughter-in-law, and grandsons.  While his travelling days were at an end, he found a new mission, working for Anne Arundel County as an advocate for seniors and the disabled, helping them find services and support.  He railed against Donald Trump, especially after Trump publicly mocked a reporter who was also born with arthrogryposis.  His new mission was to maintain his health and strength, advocating for those who could not, and battling ignorance and bias against the disabled.

He never stopped dreaming of returning to Asia, and some of his last conversations were about his journeys through the Chinese Silk Road towns.  But despite 16 years in Asia and the last 5 in Maryland, he never stopped calling Montana home.  The ease of warm tropical waters always enticed.  But in his heart the struggle of cold winters, steep mountains, and rushing waters could always refresh his imagination and inspire new creations.

David was preceded in death by his parents, Herman and Olga Opal, and his sister, Lillian Holbrook.  He is leaves behind an older brother, Alex Opal; his son Isaac Opalinsky and his wife Dana Opalinsky; and grandsons Rhodes and August Opalinsky, a full diver's log, and a passport full of extra pages and visas.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, October 22, 2016 at 10:00am in the Barranco & Sons,P.A Severna Park Funeral Home 495 Ritchie hwy. Severna Park, MD 21146.  In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Shriners Hospital for Kids by visiting http://www.shrinershospitalsforchildren.org or http://www.donate2shc.org/ .