James Gordon Opie was born at Coraki on the Richmond River in far north New South Wales. His father, A J Opie, who was the local general practitioner, had a special interest in surgery and later became an early Fellow of the College of Surgeons.

Jim graduated MBBS in 1942 and, after residency at Balmain Hospital from 1942 to 1943, joined the RAAF. After the WWII he returned to Lismore and entered general practice. His special interests were medicine and anaesthesia.

He made the journey to Scotland and in 1957 was granted membership of the College of Physicians (Edin.) He then took up anaesthetic appointments and gained a Diploma in Aneasthetics from the College of Anaesthetists in 1957.

On returning to Australia he rejoined his general practice group which by then had acquired two surgeons (one his father) and devoted his time to anaesthesia and medical consultancy. He held appointments as an Honorary Medical Officer at the Lismore Base Hospital and St Vincent's Hospital until 1975 when these appointments were replaced by Visiting Medical Officers remunerated on a fee-for-service or sessional basis.

Jim retained a special affinity for general practitioners and, rather than require patients from small rural hospitals to be transferred to a Lismore hospital for consultation, he applied for consultancy appointments at the various country hospitals surrounding Lismore. Added to his Lismore consultancy and his regular and emergency anaesthesia duties, this travelling work left Jim with very limited time for his family.

In the late 60s when the College of General Practitioners became active in the larger rural centres Jim offered his services as a monitor at tutorials held for general practitioners who wished to sit for their membership. Again, rather than require them to attend tutorial sessions in Lismore, Jim conducted these tutorials at surrounding centres on a rotating basis.

As a result of his travels within the district Jim came to know most of the hundred or so practitioners in the then North Eastern Medical Association (NEMA), one of the most active medico-political groups in the NSW Branch of the then BMA. When a new doctor arrived to practice in the area Jim would contact the NEMA Secretary and arrange to meet for dinner with wives. This practice was to insure that the NEMA was a very 'sociable' group of medicos with eighty to a hundred guests attending the quarterly post-graduate week-ends. Jim served two terms as President of the local association.

Jim was a single figures golfer with an enviable classical swing. Despite his busy medical life he found time to practice regularly but was denied club honours by an unreliable putter. He had a great sense of humour. On one occasion he was heard to remark that so-and-so was "standing too close to the ball after he completed his follow through."

Jim was also a competent pianist and apart from entertaining himself in quieter moments he happily played for "singalongs" at social evenings.

He succumbed to pancreatic cancer. Friends who visited Jim in the terminal stages of his illness remarked that he was still reading current medical journals and showing an interest in the local medical scene.