Farmer, the final president of Chiltern Shire before the creation of Indigo Council and holder of countless community group senior roles, Mr Shelley passed away on Tuesday.

He was awarded an OAM in 2012 for community roles which also included a 15-year reign as chairman of the Ovens and King Football League from 1985 to 2000.

It was preceded by seven years as president of the Chiltern Swans, a position also held by one of his two sons, Paul.

Mr Shelley was educated at Cornishtown State School followed by Wangaratta Technical School before beginning work on the family farm.

One of his first experiences of community service came in 1952, soon after he left school, when a major fire broke out near Barnawartha on the Old Howlong Road and the Shelley farm became the centre for the firefighting effort which saw reinforcements brought in from around the district.

The Cornishtown brigade had only recently been formed before the fire broke out.

Two years later, Mr Shelley was called up for National Service and based at Puckapunyal.

In 1974, Mr Shelley was elected to Chiltern Shire and served three terms as president  before the shires of Chiltern, Rutherglen, Yackandandah and Beechworth merged to become Indigo Council in 1994.

Indigo deputy mayor Sophie Price, who is from Chiltern, confirmed she would table a condolence motion in honour of Mr Shelley at council’s next monthly meeting.

He was married to Val in 1959 and they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in March 2009.

Mr Shelley is survived by his wife Val, children Paul, Anthony, Maree and Sharon and families.

Funeral details are still to be released.