Owsley “Bear” Stanley, a 1960s counterculture icon who worked with The Grateful Dead, died in a car crash in Australia, his family said Monday. He was 76.

According to the Associated Press, Stanley was driving a car that “swerved off a highway and down an embankment before hitting trees” near the town of Mareeba in Queensland state Saturday. His wife was treated for minor injuries from the crash.

Sam Cutler, a friend of Stanley since 1970 when Cutler became the band’s tour manager, described him as was “a wonderful man and a great teacher.”

“His death is a grievous loss to his family and the tens of thousands of people from the ’60s on who were influenced by his work with The Grateful Dead,” he added.

A family statement Monday described Stanley as “our beloved patriarch.”

Stanley is survived by his wife Sheila, four children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

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