He was born in Stratford, to a Swiss father and English mother. He was the youngest of their three children. The family moved to Auckland, where he was educated at Catholic schools.
He then studied chemistry, and began a career as an industrial chemist. He worked in Christchurch for a while, before getting the position of works chemist for the Kempthorne Prosser fertiliser business in Whanganui (later Ravensdown) in 1948.
In that year he married Patricia Jaffrey, who he had met in Auckland. The two had two children, Caroline and Leo.
Mr Respinger retired in the early 1970s, at the age of 55, and took up other interests. Golf was one of them, and he got 10 holes in one despite always playing with only two clubs. He also invested in Whanganui property.
His interest in fair play may have started at the fertiliser works, where he had a lot to do with union representatives and wanted staff to be well treated and not exposed to risk.
His interest in politics took off in the early 1990s, when he campaigned for Cam Campion to become Whanganui's MP.
On a local level, he campaigned against the district council selling its interests in gas, and he made a code of conduct complaint against then Mayor Michael Laws.
"He could kick up quite a kerfuffle, particularly if government people were not acting in the best interests of the people," son Leo said.
He used a computer, printer and scanner in his inquiries and research, and he knew where everything was in his piles of paper.
Mr Respinger's mind was sharp until 2010, when a medical problem began a dementia. He spent his final years in Virginia Lodge and then Nazareth Rest Home.
At both places he was calm and patient, accepting his situation with humility. He died just two months after his 100th birthday.