and through a regular correspondence encouraged his eventual rehabilitation. Later life and death By the time Calwell's political career ended he was the Father of the House of Representatives, having served as an MP for 32 years. He was frequently critical of Whitlam, especially since he knew that Whitlam intended abandoning the White Australia Policy. At the 1972 election which brought Whitlam to the prime ministership, Calwell retired from Parliament. After a period of slow deterioration in his health, and a nearly four week stint in hospital, Calwell died on 8 July 1973. He was given a state funeral at St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne. He was survived by his wife Elizabeth and his daughter Mary Elizabeth. Notwithstanding Calwell's poor relations with the conservative press in Australia and his public battles against right-wing Catholics like Archbishop Mannix and B. A. Santamaria, he maintained a cordial relationship with Menzies. Menzies, for his part, never lost his respect and outright personal liking for Calwell. He attended Calwell's funeral, but (according to his biographer Allan W. Martin) became so overwhelmed by grief after arriving at the cathedral that he was unable to compose himself and leave his car. Personal life Calwell's first marriage was to Margaret Mary Murphy in 1921. She died the following year in 1922, and ten years later, on 29 August 1932, he married Elizabeth (Bessie) Marren, a strong-willed, intelligent and well-read Irishwoman who was social editor (as "Cecilia") of the Catholic weekly newspaper, the Tribune. In 1933 they launched the Irish Review as the official organ of the Victorian Irish Association. Calwell had met Elizabeth at Irish language classes run by the Gaelic League in Melbourne, and retained an interest in and fluency in the language. Calwell and his second wife had two children, Mary Elizabeth (b. 1934) and Arthur Andrew (b. 1937). His son, known as Art, died of leukaemia in June 1948 at the age of eleven. Calwell was profoundly affected by his son's death, and subsequently wore only black neckties. His wife later recalled it as "the cruellest blow Arthur has ever suffered. In fact, he has never been the same since that dreadful day". Calwell's daughter was described by The Canberra Times in 1995 as his "most passionate defender and admirer". In 2013, she published a sympathetic biography of her father titled I Am Bound to Be True, hoping to "correct what she believes is the