Andy Griffith

By Christie D'Zurilla July 3, 2012, 5:55 p.m.

Andy Griffith, who died in his sleep Tuesday at age 86, was buried on his North Carolina farm mere hours after his early morning death.

Cindi Griffith, the actor's wife since 1983, was at his side when he died, the family told the Charlotte Observer.

""He is the love of my life, my constant companion, my partner, and my best friend,"" she said in a statement to the paper. ""I cannot imagine life without Andy, but I take comfort and strength in God's grace and in the knowledge that Andy is at peace and with God.""

The prompt, intimate service and interment ""had been planned for some time,"" a funeral spokesman told CNN. Griffith, who died about 7a.m., local time, on the Outer Banks' Roanoke Island, was buried by 11:30 a.m., a Twiford Funeral Homes representative told TMZ.

""He has been laid to rest on his beloved farm on Roanoke Island,"" the funeral home's website said Tuesday.

Mr. Griffith's favorite causes were Outer Banks Conservationists and the Andy and Cindi Griffith Scholarship Fund at UNC-Chapel Hill.