His interest in mushrooms came when he won a scholarship from Sydney University and decided to write a thesis about diseases in mushrooms.

From there, the microbiologist took over a disused railway tunnel in Mittagong, now known as the mushroom tunnel, and started the award winning Li Sun Exotic Mushrooms business.

He sold the business in April, which was named a gold medallist in the 'From the Earth' category at the produce awards in 2018 and retired at the same time.

Dr Arrold, who once received a visit from world famous chef Jamie Oliver, died on Sunday, December 3 having just turned 81.

He is survived by his two children, Shane and Lisa, and three grandchildren, Byron, Oscar and Willow.

Dr Arrold's brother, Tony Arrold, said his elder brother was a role model to him despite not spending much time with him until recent years.

"We didn't spend much time together in our formative years," he said.

"When he was running his business, we had little to do with each other too.

"However, we had been seeing each other regularly each week for the past decade.

Tony said he had a lot of respect for his brother because he recognised the achievements he made and that he was liked by many.

"He was the type of person every parent would be proud to have," he said.

"He had very few enemies in all his business dealings and had a lot of friends in his social life."

Although Dr Noel Arrold was once a talented athlete, especially in rugby league, he didn't have any time for hobbies because his business took up all of his time.

His memorial will be held at the Bowral Memorial Hall on Saturday, January 13.