David Habiger was a big man with a booming voice and an imposing manner that seemed to demand attention.
He was always stubborn, sometimes intimidating, and he had more than a few run-ins with the law - often over a cause he would not retreat from.
He favored bib overalls, and once made a defiant thumbs down gesture for a jail mug photo after his arrest for making a scene when environmental inspectors showed up at his business.
And so his silence was what was so puzzling. An associate couldn't reach Habiger after repeated phone calls Tuesday, the day they were supposed to crush cars from his salvage yard near Amenia, N.D.
That prompted a check by the Cass County Sheriff's Office at his home in Casselton, and the discovery that Habiger had died at age 49, apparently of natural causes.
ADVERTISEMENT
An autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.
In recent years, Habiger was embroiled in controversies involving his salvage yard and complaints about junk cars outside his home.
Those encounters led to arrests, including a confrontation last year at his salvage yard, when he seized papers from health inspectors who had a warrant to search his salvage yard.
A judge later ruled that the search was illegal. Instead of pleading guilty to the misdemeanor charges, Habiger fought back.
"That order wasn't worth the paper they printed it on," he said at the time.
But Habiger was best known for his long involvement in the pro-life movement, including his participation in the 1991 "Lambs of Christ" protest outside a Fargo abortion clinic.
"He was noncompromising," said Darold Larson, a longtime pro-life activist in Fargo. "When he had a principle he didn't back down. He wasn't persuaded by public opinion or what people thought."
Habiger was a fixture in anti-abortion protests, often carrying a placard with a chalkboard containing biblical phrases.
ADVERTISEMENT
"He was certainly passionate," said Lynn Gifford, a veteran activist in the pro-choice movement in Fargo. "He was somebody I did worry about. He had a terrible temper, and he just didn't get it sometimes."
Still, Gifford added, "I knew he was sincere."
She recalled seeing Habiger tackled by Fargo police officers during a mass protest by the Lambs of Christ, after she saw him take a swing at a police sergeant.
"I don't think he connected," Gifford said of Habiger's swing. "All of a sudden it was like a football game."
Habiger was injured in his arrest, and returned to the protest line with one arm in a sling. Later the arrest charge was thrown out, but Habiger lost his lawsuit against Fargo police.
Although Habiger was never one to be subtle in arguing his point, he seemed to relish surprising his opponents with his knowledge of the law, said Ryan Younggren, a Cass County state's attorney who prosecuted Habiger for keeping junk cars outside his home in Casselton.
"I never really met anybody who disliked David, to speak of," Younggren said. "He certainly was a character."
Habiger would often leave long, blistering phone messages for Younggren, accusing him of misusing the law.
ADVERTISEMENT
"He'd always end them, 'but thank you, Mr. Younggren.' That's kind of who he was."
George Loegering, a Casselton resident and deacon at St. Mary's Cathedral in Fargo, said Habiger was misunderstood. News reports often focused legitimately on his altercations, he said, but never conveyed the underlying passions.
"He was trying to make the world a better place," said Loegering, who watched Habiger grow up and strike out on his own, following his father into the salvage business. "He worked for the pro-life cause endlessly. That was his life.
"He perhaps didn't have all the social skills to accomplish his goals."
