“He just didn’t effect [sic] the lives of the people in Monsey that much. He was a great talmud [sic] chacham but how does he effect [sic] people’s lives?”
His psakim were and continue to be a tremendous part of our mesorah and halacha l’maaseh. My rav (who is Ashkenazi) said in class that there is not a single shiur he prepares for that he doesn’t look up R’ Ovadiah’s writings. It is a tremendous loss for Am Yisroel and if you keep halacha (even as an Ashkenazi), R’ Ovadiah has most certainly affected your life.