This honour is granted to Club Members in recognition of meritorious service over a number of years. A proposal, by a minimum of ten other Club members, must be forwarded in writing to the Committee for inclusion on the Agenda. If agreed at an Annual General Meeting, the names of the recipients are added to the Honors Board in the Clubhouse and no membership fees are due thereafter.

The following are our honorary life members with the dates of their appointments:

1983

Gwyndaf Evans -- a Founder Member of the Club. Club Secretary 1972-82. Clubman of the Year 1974. President 2004-08.One-time County Rep. Fixer 'extraordinaire' who brought such notables as Carwen James, Max Boyce and the legendary Cliff Morgan to Club events. At County level served on County Disciplinary Panel and as Assistant County Secretary.

1984

Roger Homer, Team Secretary at Harwell before performing the same task at Grove in 1972; Clubman of the Year in 1973 & 1976; Club Captain 1975-76 and 1980-83; County Rep 1992-2000 and 2006-07; Clubhouse Committee Chairman 2004-07; Chairman 1980-81 and Committee Member for many years. One of the three Club Trustees.
Roger Williams came to Club from Harwell RFC. First Club Captain 1972-73. Club Chairman 1988-93 and 1998-2003. Clubman of the Year 1973,'83,'88, '89 and '94. In charge of the building of the present Clubhouse. One of the three Club Trustees.
Barry Chapman was Club Captain 1976-77, 1978-79 and 1993-94. Committee Member for many years. One of the three Club Trustees.

1987

Earl Ashford, Former club Huntingdon Stags until '72. Club Chairman 1978-80. In charge of building of first Clubhouse by Club members June '79-Feb '80. Bar Manager 1983-93. Clubman of the Year '80 & '86. Present Club Secretary.

1989

John Potter, Club Captain 1984-85 and 1993-94.

1995

Dave Hollister came to Grove having played for Swindon. Club Treasurer for many years until his untimely death from cancer.

1998

Geoff Amiss started playing on the wing at 29! 'Promoted' to hooker 'cause he couldn't catch. Played for all four teams; very first 4th XV captain. Held many positions on the Committee - Team Secretary, Clubhouse Secretary and Youth Treasurer. Managed a youth side from U9s in 1988 through to Colts. Achieved his ambition of playing in the same team as his son.
Dave Jones was Clubman of the year 1992, Youth Chairman for around 17 years, and ever-present organiser of all things associated with Mini/Junior section. Well-known throughout the County and a great ambassador for the Club.
Kevin Tarry came through the Junior ranks, joining in 1974, and has played for all four teams. Helped on numerous outside bars - Lambourn Lurcher Show being memorable. Remembers digging foundation holes for the first clubhouse and carrying the generator up and down the field for training. Still a stalwart of the Club.

1999

Tim Fox played from 1972. When Social Secretary helped organise Skittles,Dinner Dances and Tours. One-time assistant to U17s coach; Bar Manager for a number of years; Clubman of the Year for 3 consecutive years and still involved on the bar most Saturdays and in the organisation of Bonfire Night.

2006

Stephen Dexter played for the Club from 1975-79 , was Publicity Officer in 1977, Treasurer from 1978-81 and acted as Financial Adviser since that time. He became Treasurer again in 2007.
Duncan Nicholl, Played first game end of 1978/79 season as a prop for Second XV. Moved to wing with the first team the next season. Finished playing 2005. Mini/Junior coach taking team from U7s to Colts winning the County Cup at U15s, U16s and U17s. Served on various Committees as Member, Clubhouse Secretary, Club Captain, 1989-91, and now County Representative (2007). County Disciplinary Panel Member 2007-08.

2007

Phil Connolly played first game for Club at 15. Played next game at 20 as a flanker. Broke ribs, started again in 1988. 3rd XV captain 1993-4; 2nd XV captain 1995 as hooker, progressed to 1st XV 1997. Club Captain 1997-98. Mini coach 2000-2006 starting with U11s; winning trophies at U13s (Alton 7s); U15s won the County Cup. Social Secretary 2003-05. Clubhouse Manager 2005 to the present.

2008

Christine Barguss is the first lady so elected. A long-serving helper in the art of feeding hungry rugby players and a former Social Secretary.

2009

Cliff Healy doesn’t remember when he became a member of Grove RFC, but he does remember his first acquaintance with the club was in 1974. His son was eight and they came to watch some football. It was so awful that they came over to watch the rugby. Ron Hursey was the skipper and he asked Cliff if he could help out by waving a touch flag until someone younger came along. That started something, for he continued running touch until a heart attack made him give up in Nov ’98! His last match was a Sunday, Oxford Cup game at Harwell (won 40-or-so to nil) and his mishap was on the Monday. In ’74, Gwyndaf Evans got Cliff involved with Oxfordshire County, as Colts and then U21 secretary. His first Grove post was as team secretary: players would cry off on a Saturday morning (following a Friday night hangover?) and he would liaise with the captains to make up the numbers with a knock-on effect down to the Thirds. Other offices followed - secretary for a couple of years, and then chairman for a year. Finally, his last office, and one he considers his greatest honour, was to become the third President of the club. He had three, three-year terms. Nowadays, his role is merely to wander round the pitch on a Saturday afternoon cheering Grove on, and now and again joining in criticism of the referee for awarding two-thirds of the penalties against Grove, and he still wonders why. He hopes to have a few more years supporting Grove to achieve greater heights!
John Sevier joined Grove RFC at age 40. 1986-89 4th XV captain; 1987 Social Secretary; 1987-91 Annual Skittles Tournament organiser; 1994-95 Club Captain; 1994-99 Mini/Junior coach; 1997-98 Club Chairman; 1998-present Club statistician; 2000 - present, Sponsor of First Class Travel annual player awards; 2010- present, President

2011

Ady Amies played for Grove Colts from 1981 to 1983 and has played for Grove Seniors since 1988 until the present. He was Captain of Second XV 1999-2001 and Club Captain 2002–2004. He then performed the duties of 1st XV Manager 2004–2006, has been Fixture Secretary since 2004, and has been responsible for the ordering of International tickets since then. All told 29 years as player and official.
Helen Price supported her children as Minis until 2006, when she started to coach girls rugby at Grove after her daughter finished Mini rugby. She assisted in a small county programme in the early years, and became lead county coach in 2008/09. The same season, she was Regional Team Manager for the U15s in the Thames Valley. Currently, she coaches the U15s cluster [Grove/Faringdon girls], Grove U18s and is Team Manager for the County U18s team and fixture secretary. Helen received an official invite to the RFUW Board meeting at Twickenham, with the specific remit of integrating Womens’/Girls’ into the RFU. She has been a good ambassador for Grove RFC around the County and the Region, and has travelled many miles and invested countless hours in promoting Girls’ rugby.

2012

Nigel Dixey first played for Grove RFC in 1978, at the tender age of 14, under John Fisher, and has subsequently played for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and Vets teams. Getting involved with the Junior section in 1996 saw helping out with coaching leading to involvement with the club's Committee and taking on the post of Junior Secretary for a number of years working with Dave Jones. Coaching continued, helping to assemble a Colts team in in 2001, and covering training sessions for the Seniors in 2007 until a new Club Coach was appointed later that season. Over the years, Nigel has covered the posts of 1st Team Manager, 4th team Captain and Club Captain (2005, 2006 and 2009) and was honoured with the award of Clubman of the Year in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2009. He also arranged many Senior tours, including Amsterdam and Lithuania -- where 65 members converged on Vilnius for a weekend to remember!
Wayne Latimer started playing rugby at Grove in 1983, aged 15, in the Colts team, whilst also playing at school and county level. Tom Robertson introduced him to the club! He played Colts first under John Fisher, and then Roger Williams. He also played in the first ever 4th team match away (at Witney), when Geoff Amies was the captain. He took over from John Bale as 3rd team captain mid-way through a season, as a 19 year old, subsequently captaining the 2nd team for 5 seasons. He has been Fixtures Secretary for three seasons, and on-and-off for around 15 seasons has been 3rd team captain. Wayne has played for the Club every year since he was 15, except one year when he thought he’d give football a go (but he soon returned!).