James Earl Jones never intended to live in Pawling, New York. He had a home there for 50 years and died this week.

The acclaimed actor died on Monday, Aug. 9, at age 93 at his home in the small town about 70 miles north of New York City, his agent confirmed to PEOPLE.

The Arkabutla, Mississippi, native lived in the town for more than 50 years, buying a home there in the 1970s after a fateful visit with a friend.

According to a 2012 profile published by the Poughkeepsie Diary, Jones first came into the neighborhood when a friend from New Jersey, who was looking for a new, larger home, invited him on a road trip to the Upstate to go house hunting.

The friend ultimately did not buy the piece of land he was looking for, but Jones did.

“I liked it,” Jones told the newspaper at the time, praising the “big trees … they were big enough to hug.”

He established his own roots in the area and would maintain a home there for the next 50 years, until his death. (According to the New York Times.) At the time, he was raising his son Flynn in Pawling and began buying adjacent lots to his original parcel, according to Realtor.com. He eventually amassed 10 lots.

According to data obtained by the site, Jones’ reported purchases include a home that sold for $16,500 in 1993; two in 1994, for $108,000 and $177,500; and another for $320,000 in 2000.

But the star didn’t just invest in real estate. He also gave back to the small community of just under 2,000 residents.

The Magazine notes that he was involved in raising money for his son’s college, the Poughkeepsie Day School, and participated in the Young Playwrights Festival at the Bardavon 1869 Opera House.

A former Dutchess County official who knew Jones kindly remembered his neighbor in an obituary published at midhudsonnews.com.

“Yes, he was a celebrity, but he was the most genuine person you could ever want to meet. There was nothing fake about the man,” Pawling resident Dave Gamache told the outlet. “He loved Pawling, he really loved Pawling, and he loved the people. He was active in the community.”

Despite his star status, Gamache adds, he was “just as kind, wonderful, friendly a person as he was as a person at the top of his field.”

Jones is best known for his role as Darth Vader in the Star Wars movies and Mufasa in The Lion KingIn recent years he has played in productions of On Golden Pond, Cat on a hot zinc roofAnd Much ado about nothingwhich also starred Vanessa Redgrave. In 2012, Jones earned his fourth Tony nomination for The best man.

Throughout his decades-long career, his passion for storytelling has never been lost.

“I want to play anything that gives me the opportunity to learn about people who are really different from me,” he once told PEOPLE. “I want to tell as much as I can about how I feel about myself — not my black self or my American self, but my real self.”