As well as many community groups, Mr Kneipp also served on Ashford's council for more than a decade.

He was also an alderman on Ashford Shire Council for 14 years, from 1965 to 1979, before it was amalgamated with Inverell and Macintyre councils.

In Ashford he was also in Lions, serving as president of the town's Lions Club in 1973-74, and he was a volunteer with the Ashford Bushfire Brigade, and the community's Meals on Wheels.

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Mr Kneipp was a founding member of Ashford Show Society and a former president of Ashford Pony Club. He was given life membership by both those organisations.

In Inverell, Mr Kneipp has been a volunteer with Inverell Meals on Wheels, Inverell Rotary Club where he served two terms as president between 1989 and 1991, Inverell Probus and Inverell East Probus, as well as Inverell Sacred Heart Catholic Church.

During his time in Rotary, Mr Kneipp was awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship in 1994, and a Sapphire Pin in 2015.

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Another organisation Mr Kneipp was involved with was St Vincent de Paul Society, where he served as president of Sacred Heart Conference.

From 1996 until 2004, Mr Kneipp was a board member of Cooinda Retirement Community

He also spent 20 years as a volunteer with Legacy.

It is a long list of community involvement and saw Mr Kneipp named Inverell's citizen of the year in 2015.

"Apart from being an exemplary family man and a successful manager of his own farming business, he has been a leader in many community organisations and charities over a period in excess of 40 years," mayor Paul Harmon said before presenting Mr Kneipp with the award for citizen of the year five years ago.

Now Mr Kneipp has another honour to recognise the many years he has dedicated to the local area.