As a Mansfield selectman, George Dentino was always quick to speak up about his passions, whether it be the need for a regional sewage treatment plant or the death of singer Whitney Houston -- which actually led him to break into song.

“No one is going to forget him, ever,’’ said Jess Aptowitz, who served on the board with Mr. Dentino for 10 years.

Mr. Dentino, 73, died Aug. 10, about a month after he suffered a major head trauma in a fall. The town is mourning the loss and will need to call a special election to fill his term, which expires in May 2018.

Selectmen chairman Michael A. Trowbridge Sr. said Mr. Dentino “was bigger than life,’’ describing him as “a crusader, a man on a mission, who was at times relentless.’’

“He spoke out for the working man and had only one agenda — to do what he thought was best for the Town of Mansfield. He will be sorely missed by us all,’’ Trowbridge said.

Aptowitz said Mr. Dentino worked on a committee that monitored the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, and loved to dig into budget deliberations. A retired construction manager, Mr. Dentino came to meetings in costumes and distributed candy at Halloween, and at one meeting after the death of Whitney Houston, he sang a tribute in her honor.

He was also a passionate ice hockey player, and when he found out Aptowitz’s daughter played he gave her a big bag of hockey pucks.

“Sometimes he was controversial, but he got along with all of the current board members. George was just one of a kind,’’ Aptowitz said.

Funeral arrangements were made by the James H. Delaney Funeral Home in Walpole.

Elaine Cushman Carroll can be reached at elaine_carroll@ msn.com.