TRIBUTES poured in after the death this week of Campervan and Motorhome Club of Australia founder and life member Don Whitworth.

Eighty-five-year-old Mr Whitworth ‒ who held the coveted membership number N001 ‒ died after a long illness.

He and wife Erica launched the CMCA in Tweed Heads, NSW, in 1986.

CMCA chairman Garry Lee told Caravanning News: "He was a very quiet, humble and unassuming person who did not look for gratitude or praise. In fact, he steered a long way from that. He will be missed."

And director and past chairman Gary Rebgetz commented: "We have lost our figurehead. He was an inspiration to us all."

He believed that when Mr Whitworth launched the organisation all those years ago he would not have realised just how successful it would be.

"We now have an organisation that is dynamic and fights for the rights of the travelling public ... and it's all down to Don and his wife Erica," Mr Rebgetz said.

Mr Whitworth was recognised in the 2012 Queen’s Birthday Honours when he was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for service to the community.

He once said his involvement in the CMCA had been an "incredibly gratifying journey and the support, enthusiasm and personal affiliations formed with members have made it a truly wonderful experience".

A decade after founding the association, he penned For the Love of Motorhoming which covered the first 10 years of its history.

The 143-page book became essential reading for every CMCA member.

It began with the author's early travels within Australia in a pop-top VW Campmobile.

Don, Erica and their three children took off to Europe and North American where they experienced the world of motorhoming.

On their return to Australia, the couple decided to form the national body, with the first CMCA "branch office" operating from their own RV.

The CMCA is now Australia's largest RV club with a membership approaching 70,000.

• The funeral will be held this Friday (March 13) at Melaleuca Station Memorial Gardens Crematorium in Tweed Valley Way, Chinderah, at 4pm.