Vermont neighbor remembers humble Treat Williams as ‘just another townie’

Although Treat Williams has had a successful career spanning over a decade in film and television, he will be most fondly remembered by his neighbors in Vermont as a humble family man.

Matt Rapphahn, who owns the Long Trail Auto Shop in East Dorset, recalls the Blue Bloods actor as an incredibly kind person. 

Rapphahn first met Williams about four years ago when he restored one of Williams' Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

“He was just another townie around here,” Rapphahn told PEOPLE. “He wasn’t Mr. Hollywood. When we had done his motorcycle ... he would stop into the garage here, and we were actively making plans to do some work on some of his vintage cars.”

According to Rapphahn, Treat Williams, who is 71 years old, had an impressive collection of vintage cars that included a 1950s Chevy Apache truck and an early 1970s Oldsmobile.

“We would just run into him in town and shoot the shit with him, talk about movies and music and cars and motorcycles and trucks."

“Just every time we would talk, he was just always funny and just good-natured and asked you how you're doing with genuine interest in the people that he was talking to."

On Monday, Treat Williams' life was tragically cut short when he was hit by another vehicle while driving his beloved 1986 Honda VT700c motorcycle on Route 30.

According to reports, the actor was thrown roughly 15 feet from the impact, which Matt Rapphahn sadly witnessed firsthand.