Editing John McEwen (section)

==Personal life and death==
[[File:Sir John McEwen 1973.jpg|thumb|left|McEwen in retirement in 1973.]]
On 21 September 1921, he married [[Annie McEwen|Anne Mills McLeod]], known as Annie; they had no children. In 1966, she was made a Dame Commander of the [[Order of the British Empire]] (DBE). After a long illness Dame Anne McEwen died on 10 February 1967.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/106961762|title=Death of Dame Ann McEwen|newspaper=The Canberra Times|date=11 February 1967}}</ref>

At the time of becoming prime minister in December of that year, McEwen was a widower, being the first Australian prime minister unmarried during his term of office. (The next such case was [[Julia Gillard]], prime minister 2010–13, who had a domestic partner although unwed.)<ref name=adb/>

On 26 July 1968, McEwen married Mary Eileen Byrne, his personal secretary for 15 years, at [[Wesley Church, Melbourne]]; he was aged 68, she was 46.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/136954723|title=Official role was confirmed by launching|newspaper=The Canberra Times|date=12 November 1968}}</ref> In retirement he distanced himself from politics, undertook some consulting work, and travelled to Japan and South Africa. He had no children by any of his marriages.<ref name="adb" />

McEwen had severe [[dermatitis]] for most of his adult life. He recounted that "for literally months at a time, I would be walking about Parliament House with my feet bleeding and damaged." The pain became unbearable in later years, and he began refusing food in order to hasten his death; he died of self-imposed starvation on 20 November 1980, aged 80.<ref>[http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/former-prime-minister-sir-john-mcewens-secret-pain-led-to-tragic-end-says-book-by-julian-fitzgerald/news-story/af22f1bc66294793744dcbe9cf5fb24e Former Prime Minister Sir John McEwen's secret pain led to tragic end, says book by Julian Fitzgerald], ''[[Adelaide Advertiser]]'', 3 November 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2017.</ref> McEwen was cremated, and his estate was sworn for probate at $2,180,479.