I had read about Stiers's self-admitted homosexuality several years ago. Although I can't remember where I read it, it was he who confirmed it at that time in the article, and I remember thinking 'good for him, it's never too late'.
MASH is my all-time fave TV show, looked forward to it every week from when I was 6 until I was 17. I have the whole collection of all 11 seasons on DVD and am not ashamed to say I watch it all the way through at least once, sometimes twice a year. I remember when Winchester first appeared, he really irked me, but then, that was what his character was supposed to do, and he played it well. He won my favor in increments, like with the orphanage / chocolates Christmas episode that Clarissa mentioned, and when he agreed to substitute teach a class at the last minute for Margaret so that she could go to Tokyo, and in the finale, when he handed over a copy of "Sonnets from the Portuguese" from his collection to Margaret because it had touched her so deeply. I wished the writers would have given him more moments like that because as an actor, he really has a gift for reaching into the audience's hearts when his humanity shines through.