By By Talia Lissauer,The Berkshire Eagle

Copyright berkshireeagle

LENOX — Generous in the shadows, Jonas Dovydenas preferred to keep his philanthropy quiet.

“He really was not tooting his horn and wasn’t interested in publicity,” said James Brooke, an international journalist and friend in Lenox.

To a person, friends and family on Thursday described Jonas as a generous and passionate man who stayed true to his values and was a loyal friend.

Jonas was killed in a two-car crash while visiting Lithuania with his wife, Elizabeth “Betsy” Dovydenas, and his sister Liuda Dovydenas. The women, who were also in the car, are in stable condition.

An acclaimed photographer and philanthropist, Jonas was in Lithuania to award this year’s winner of the book prize that’s in his father’s name, which he does every year.

Elena Dovydenas Green, Jonas and Betsy’s daughter, described her father as generous and dependable. She said he was active as a photographer, a pilot, a community member, a family man and a friend.

“He just led such a big life,” she said. “There were so many different chapters in his life.”

Though he will be remembered for his philanthropy, Jonas wasn’t interested in the credit for helping someone, said David Roche, a Lenox Select Board member and a close friend.

“If there was an organization or individual who was having hard times, if I mentioned it to Jonas, he would always try to help them out, and he never ever wanted his name associated with a donation,” Roche said. “Therefore, I can’t tell you how many places and people he helped over the years.”

Roche and Jonas first met in the 1980s and, over time, became true friends.

“It was just a good friendship,” Roche said. “I’m gonna miss him awfully bad.”

At least once a month, the duo would meet for lunch, their most recent one being a week before Jonas left for his annual trip. They would debate politics and gush over how proud they are of their families.

“He was an ultra-conservative; I’m a little bit more of a centrist,” Roche said. “But we had a lot of really spirited discussions, always leaving as close friends.”

Susan Wissler met the Dovydenas’s in the ’90s through her wife, who had known the couple since they were “young and in love.” She said Jonas was passionate for the things he loved, like land conservation and helping others.

“He was a fearless champion of the things he was passionate about,” Wissler said. “That led him to take on some really dangerous assignments, like in Afghanistan.”

Throughout 13 trips to Afghanistan over 25 years, he photographed people who had been through decades of war. He spent years on the board of The Mount, Edith Wharton’s historic house museum. He built a plane in his garage and quietly donated to cultural institutions and conservation efforts.

“He was a man with deeply held beliefs and convictions, and deeply loyal as a friend,” Wissler said. “It’s one thing to be a champion of a place that is thriving, and it’s another to take on a place that needs a good fight.”

Brooke was one of the few people who knew Jonas both in The Berkshires and in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. He said he was proud of his Lithuanian background and continued to speak and read in the country.

“He was very plugged in to preserving and maintaining the language and literature of Lithuania,” Brooke said. “For a man who was very American, he was also very loyal to his roots.”

Brooke described him as a dedicated conservationist who was a strong supporter of land conservation.

Over the last few days, Green has been connecting with family, like a cousin in Lithuania, who she barely knew but described the impact Jonas made on his family in Europe through quick visits and sending cards.

“He always kept in touch with a cousin in Lithuania whom I barely knew,” Green said. “It made them feel like they had a connection with the outside world during Soviet times. He made their lives a little bit brighter.”

Lila Berle, an early chair of The Mount board who recruited Jonas in the mid-’70s, said that in her 88 years of life, she hasn’t met anyone like him. He was kind, generous and respectful, she said.

“He was one of the few people I’ve ever known who really lived his value system,” Berle said. “If everyone could be like that, it would be a different world.”

The Dovydenas family has been “amazingly generous” with their time and resources over the last few days, which Green said she is very grateful for.

“He was always thinking about how he could help out in Lenox, with his family in Europe and he was always thinking about how to be helpful to people,” Green said.