A former Riverina paramedic, firefighter and councillor has been recognised for his many years of service to the local community.
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John Jacobson was humbled to receive the Order of Australia Medal as part of the King's Birthday Honours.
"I'm honoured but also very humbled and surprised I received the award," Mr Jacobson said.
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Growing up in Junee, he said he was drawn to the ambulance service.
"I was looking for a career and felt I needed to help people less fortunate than myself," he said.
"I was always interested in the medical side of things and an opportunity came up for me to be an honorary ambulance at Junee."
Mr Jacobson served in the NSW Ambulance Service, serving as an honorary officer from 1959 until 1969.
"I then joined the service permanently, where I served until 1992," he said.
Mr Jacobson then transferred to the North Coast before joining the Queensland Ambulance Service where he served as the assistant commissioner for the Sunshine Coast and Wide Bay region.
During his five years there, he played a key role in amalgamating district ambulance services.
"When I went across to Queensland, there were many different ambulance districts. The new one we set up from those was the Queensland Ambulance Service," Mr Jacobson said.
During his time as a paramedic, he has been awarded the national medal with two clasps and received a NSW Ambulance good conduct medal.
In 1989 he received a particularly special honour when the late Queen Elizabeth II bestowed on him the Officer of the Order of St John of Jerusalem.
Mr Jacobson has also previously served as a volunteer firefighter with the Junee, Gosford and Bathurst NSW Fire Brigades.
He also had a short stint with local government early on in his career.
Mr Jacobson served as a Junee Shire councillor from 1966 to 1968.
"I was the youngest alderman there," he said.
"I also got onto the local government executive in Sydney the first year I was on council and was the youngest there as well," he said.
Mr Jacobson has also served as a justice of the peace in NSW for more than half a century.
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