JUNEAU — The longest-serving Republican in the U.S. House has remarried, tying the knot on his 82nd birthday.

Rep. Don Young’s office says the Alaska Republican married 76-year-old Anne Garland Walton during a private ceremony Tuesday in the chapel of the U.S. Capitol. The House chaplain officiated.

Both Young and Walton are widowed. Young’s wife, Lu, died in 2009. In August, he introduced Walton as his fiancee, to applause, during an Anchorage church event.

Young was elected to a 22nd term last fall.

In a statement, Young says that as he celebrates his birthday, Walton has given him the “best gift anyone could ask for.”

He says in many ways, neither of them thought they would find love again. But, he says, sometimes life surprises you.