thickeallen(A&E) Alan Thicke, the 1980s television star best known as the patriarch on ABC’s “Growing Pains,” died on Tuesday, his publicist confirmed. He was 69.

TMZ, who was first to report the news, said the actor had a heart attack Tuesday afternoon while he played hockey with his son, Carter. His older son, pop star Robin Thicke, told the Los Angeles Times that some of his last words were “a compliment to his son on a nice shot.”

“The good thing was that he was beloved and he had closure. I saw him a few days ago and told him how much I loved and respected him,” Robin Thicke told the Times, calling his father “the greatest man I ever met.”

“Today I lost my best friend and my idol, and the world lost one of it’s finest,” Carter Thicke tweeted. “You are a legend and I love you Pops.”