Actor Jim Nabors, best known for playing Gomer Pyle on TV in the 1960s, has married his longtime male partner, media sources report.

Nabors, 82, and his partner of 38 years, Stan Cadwallader, 64, traveled from their home in Honolulu to Seattle, Washington to tie the know Jan. 15, according to Hawaii News Now.

“I’m 82 and he’s in his 60s and so we’ve been together for 38 years and I’m not ashamed of people knowing, it’s just that it was such a personal thing, I didn’t tell anybody,” Nabors told Hawaii News Now via telephone. “I’m very happy that I’ve had a partner of 38 years and I feel very blessed.  And, what can I tell you, I’m just very happy.”

The two met in 1975, when Cadwallader was a Honolulu firefighter. Eventually, he went to work for Nabors and they developed a relationship.

Nabors said he didn’t hide his sexuality from his coworkers over the years, but never acknowledged it to the media until now.