Editing Joseph Lyons (section)

==Death==
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|caption3 = (1) Lying in state at [[St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney]]<br />(2) Funeral procession <br />(3) Coffin being loaded onto [[HMAS Vendetta (D69)|HMAS ''Vendetta'']] for transport to Tasmania
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On 5 April 1939, Lyons suffered a heart attack while being driven from Melbourne to Sydney. It occurred shortly after he had stopped in at [[Goulburn, New South Wales|Goulburn]] to collect his son [[Kevin Lyons|Kevin]] from [[St Patrick's College, Goulburn|St Patrick's College]] for the Easter holidays. Lyons was rushed to [[St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney|St Vincent's Hospital, Darlinghurst]], in a critical condition.{{sfn|Henderson|2011|p=428}} By the following day, he was unable to speak and was drifting in and out of consciousness. He soon fell into a coma, and died on the morning of 7 April, which was [[Good Friday]].{{sfn|Henderson|2011|p=429}} Lyons's body lay in state at [[St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney|St Mary's Cathedral]] until 10 April ([[Easter Monday]]). A [[requiem]] service was held the following day, and then a procession bearing his coffin proceeded from the cathedral to [[Circular Quay]]. Lyons's body was transported to his home town of Devonport aboard [[HMAS Vendetta (D69)|HMAS ''Vendetta'']]. His funeral was held at the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes on 13 April, and he was buried in the church grounds. He was re-interred in the new [[Mersey Vale Memorial Park]] in 1969, where he was joined by his wife in 1981.{{sfn|Henderson|2011|p=430}}

Lyons was the first Australian prime minister to die in office. There was no constitutional precedent as to who should be appointed as his successor, and the situation was further complicated by the UAP's lack of a deputy leader. When the seriousness of Lyons's condition became apparent, [[Earle Page]]—the leader of the [[National Party of Australia|Country Party]] and ''de facto'' [[Deputy Prime Minister of Australia|deputy prime minister]]—called a cabinet meeting, where it was agreed that he should serve as prime minister on an interim basis while the UAP elected a new leader. He was sworn in by Governor-General [[Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie|Lord Gowrie]] a few hours after Lyons's death. The [[1939 United Australia Party leadership election]] was held on 18 April and won by Robert Menzies, who replaced Page as prime minister on 26 April. According to [[Laurie Fitzhardinge]], Lyons's death "removed the only force that had held in check the smouldering animosities and barely suppressed rivalries which divided [the UAP's] members".<ref>{{cite book|first=Laurie|last=Fitzhardinge|title=William Morris Hughes: A Political Biography / Vol. II: The Little Digger, 1914–1952|year=1979|publisher=Angus & Robertson Publishers|pages=650–651}}</ref>