when the series opens, several years have passed since opie's mother died. andy mentions in the backdoor pilot from "the danny thomas show" that he lost opie's mother when opie was "the least little speck of a baby". opie is 6 years old when the show opens (born in 1954), and it is more than likely (based on andy's testimony) that opie's mother died at opie's birth or shortly thereafter. andy would have been 27 or 28 when opie was born in 1954. it is mentioned numerous times during the series that andy is a widower.