James Earl Jones more a friend than celebrity in his adopted hometown of Pawling, NY
Jones donated to the local scout troop, helped fund an addition to the local library and raised funds for his son's school in Poughkeepsie.
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Tyler Schaber came to know theater and film icon James Earl Jones well.
Jones was a regular at his family's store in Pawling, the Family Quick Stop.
"We've known James Earl Jones our whole lives," Schaber said, adding that Jones enjoyed telling staff and customers about the chickens he was raising at his home down the road.
The Quick Stop opened shop long after Jones' arrival to the village in 1970.
Jones was eager to involve himself in important local causes, friends and business owners said.
Jones donated to the local scout troop, helped fund an addition to the local library and raised funds for his son's school in Poughkeepsie.
Schaber said Jones would give out large jars of chocolate covered pretzels as Christmas gits.
"He's been an integral part of town," Schaber said. "Everyone knows him. [He] Helped out with a lot of things in town, always a part of town, always helping out. Not many people know he's from such a small town."
Jones was an avid supporter of small businesses in the village.
He frequented Corner Bakery on Charles Colman Boulevard to order his favorite item.
"Chocolate milkshakes," server Victoria McDermott said immediately when asked Jones' usual order. "He always wanted chocolate milkshakes, extra thick."
To McDermott is seems Jones felt some comfort in the bakery and connected restaurant which he also frequented.
"His wife Ceci would come in here all the time as well. Same thing. Just a lovely woman," McDermott said. "His son would come in here as well as people who worked for him. It really did feel like a family environment for him."
The bakery staff is still wowed at how unassuming Jones was in person, considering his resume.
Jones played the part of Darth Vader's voice in "Star Wars," Mufasa in "The Lion King" and Terrance Mann who disappeared into the cornfield in "Field of Dreams."
McDermott said that unlike some of his characters, Jones was not intimidating.
"He didn't really seem like he wanted anything extra or anything special, even though we just thought the world of him," she said.
Local business leaders are brainstorming ideas for how to permanently memorialize Jones in Pawling.
Jones was 93 years old.
