City of Wanneroo 2014 Pioneer Profiles

Born in Perth in 1940, Mary was the daughter of Colombo and Maria De Piazzi and the youngest of four children.

Growing up on her family’s five acre market garden property in Osborne Park, Mary lived on the same street and went to the same school as Lino Borgogno, with the high school sweethearts marrying in 1958.

Six years later the pair moved to Ashley Road in Tapping, along with their then 5-year-old and 1-year-old boys Frank and Jeffrey, where Mary still lives to this day.

Mary says Lino had always wanted a farm, and they bought the 50 acre Springhill Farm, with an abandoned farmhouse and a swamp that has now been developed as the Jimbub Swamp Reserve.

So isolated that they had to build their own rubble road, and with no phone until they eventually got one in the packing shed that people could call on during

business hours, Mary said the early days were very lonely.

But they worked hard on the farm, which had dry stock and later 10 acres of root vegetables, and went on to have daughter Gina.

Mary said it was a brilliant place to bring up children, and all three still love living in the Wanneroo area. The Borgognos immersed themselves in the local football and school communities, as well as the Wanneroo Country Club and the Agricultural Society.

Since Lino passed away four years ago, Mary has thoroughly enjoyed attending the Wanneroo Day Centre, and loves spending time with her 10 grandchildren.

Congratulations, Mary Borgogno, on becoming Pioneer of the City of Wanneroo.

MARY BORGOGNO

PIONEER PROFILE 2014Mary with Mayor Tracey Roberts and Cr Brett Treby.

Born in Singapore in 1941, Helena moved to Australia in 1951 at the age of 10 with her adoptive parents Bert and Rose.

The family lived in the Perth hills and Helena studied nursing, going on to have a 35 year nursing career, working in hospitals all over Perth.

In 1961, aged 20, Helena went to a dance at the Embassy Ballroom in Perth where she met a young man by the name of Frank. From that moment on they were inseparable and the couple married soon after.

The young newlyweds moved to an area known as Elliot Road in Wanneroo, which later became Janbanis Road.

With 11 hectares of bushland, Frank and Helena worked hard to clear the land and build their own house, digging holes to install electricity and bores for groundwater. They also built an incredible 22 indoor and outdoor stables on the property.

Frank and Helena enjoyed a busy farm life which included two cows for milk production, but they later sold the cows and went into horse agistement.

The couple had three children - Timothy, Michael and Clifton.

It was certainly hard work bringing up three young boys and working on the property while continuing her successful career in nursing, but Helena said it was wonderful for the children to grow up on the rural property.

Today, Helena and Frank are proud grandparents to three grandchildren and all three of their sons continue to live in Wanneroo.

Helena now lives in Hocking whilst Frank, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease and Dementia, lives at Wanneroo Community Care and enjoys regular visits from his wife.

Helena Buytels, thank you for your contributions to your community and we warmly welcome you as a Wanneroo Pioneer.

HELENA JOAN BUYTELSHelena with Mayor Tracey Roberts and Noelene Jennings -

Director Corporate Strategy and Performance

PIONEER PROFILE 2014

Marilyn Crisafulli has lived her entire life in Wanneroo.

The daughter of the late Ned and Veen, since she was just a toddler, Marilyn was always there with her mother and father at the many community organisations her parents were involved in.

Marilyn often worked in the family’s local garage and service station, enabling her father to take part in his roles as a member of the Wanneroo Road Board, the Wanneroo Show and the Volunteer Bushfire Brigade.

Growing up at the 15 Mile Peg in Wanneroo, Marilyn was one of four children; Nancy, Eddie and Jillian.

As soon as she was old enough, Marilyn helped out at the Wanneroo Show, stewarding in the exhibition pavilion.

In fact one of her fondest memories of Wanneroo was of the Show some 55 years ago, and dressing up like all of the ladies by wearing a hat and gloves.

Marilyn also remembers it as a big week when the first shopping centre opened. She says the town was abuzz and of course in those days, you knew every person around.

Marilyn also voluntarily helped out in the little shop at Mullaloo Beach, and later worked as a receptionist.

Part of a true Wanneroo Pioneering family, well done Marilyn Crisafulli.

MARILYN CRISAFULLI Marilyn with Mayor Tracey Roberts and Cr Frank Cvitan.

PIONEER PROFILE 2014

Born in Cottesloe, Betty was a western suburbs girl until she met her husband Joe and they moved to Papua New Guinea.

On their return to Australia, the couple chose to live in Wanneroo, the perfect compromise because of Betty’s love of the beach and Joe’s love of the bush.

Formerly a dressmaker and then nurse, Betty left her working life to run her busy household and care for her son who suffered from a rare bone disease.

A devoted mother, Betty was a very active parent at Wanneroo Primary School where her three children attended, and was a voluntary library assistant for a number of years.

With her husband Joe and friends from the area, Betty ran a small Sunday school. As the number of young families in the area grew, she became involved in the youth club and Christian fellowship.

Betty’s involvement in the Wanneroo community saw her and her family develop lifelong friends in the area.

The strong connections to Wanneroo remain with two of the three Havel children residing in Wanneroo, with Betty being a proud grandmother of nine, and a great grandmother of six.

In the 1970s, Betty’s mother also moved to Wanneroo and lived at the Wanneroo Community Nursing Home. Betty was a frequent visitor and became a familiar face to staff and residents, as her mother lived there for almost two decades to the age of 102.

Due to her Alzheimer’s Disease, Betty now also resides at Wanneroo Community Nursing Home where she enjoys regular outings to the beach with her loving husband.

Thank you Betty Havel for your contributions to Wanneroo and we proudly welcome you as a Wanneroo Pioneer.

BETTY HAVEL (NEE CURRIE)

Betty with Mayor Tracey Roberts.

PIONEER PROFILE 2014

After escaping war torn Czechoslovakia, Joe came to Western Australia as a refugee under a scheme which required him to do unskilled work in the bush for two years.

Having come from a coal-mining district devoid of trees, Joe developed a passion for the Australian bush, and after completing his post, he started studies and work in the forestry industry.

During a cycling trip from his job in Gnangara, Joe rode through Wanneroo and fell in love with the trees and lakes.

When working in Papua New Guinea, he and his family returned for a holiday in Yanchep. During the trip, Joe and his wife Betty, also a Wanneroo pioneer, decided to buy a house in Wanneroo.

As luck would have it, Joe later secured employment working on planning pine plantations in the area.

While working with the WA Forests Department, Joe discovered how well pines would grow by monitoring the composition of native vegetation. Areas with great biodiversity wouldn’t sustain good pine plantations. It was his work in this area that resulted in additions to Yanchep National Park and the creation of Melaleuca Park.

In 1957, when they purchased their Wanneroo Road property, the house had no electricity, and water was sourced from a rainwater tank or wind-powered bore.

The Havels moved in permanently in 1964 and made it a comfortable place to raise their three children. They made such a great life at their Wanneroo property that they still call it home 50 years on.

Joe was an active member of the Wanneroo community running a small Sunday school with some friends from the area.

When the population grew, a youth club and Christian fellowship developed. The group secured use of the new recreation centre and Joe became a member of the management committee.

He continued his involvement until a severe heart attack forced him to slow down.

Growing up with the horrors of Nazi occupation, Joe was told he would never be more than a labourer if he escaped. Undeterred, Joe was determined to make a better life and a contribution to the community.

Joe Havel has certainly done this in Wanneroo and we welcome him as a Wanneroo Pioneer.

DR JAROSLAV JOSEPH HAVEL (JOE)

Dr Havel with Mayor Tracey Roberts and Cr Glynis Parker.

PIONEER PROFILE 2014

Born at King Edward Memorial Hospital in 1945, Joe first lived in Wanneroo at the age of eight with his parents and five siblings.

Joe’s father Victor was a trade assistant and his mother Norah was a pig farmer.

In 1965 at the age of 20, Joe married Daphne Webb and moved to Osborne Park for a brief period, before returning to live on Wanneroo Road at the 13 Mile Peg in 1967.

Joe found work as a driver in the transport industry with Sam Conti, a local cartage contractor.

He then spent the next few years setting up a very successful transport company JJ Hawkins and Company Pty Ltd, which today employs 100 people and is located in Landsdale with subsidiaries across Western Australia.

Joe and Daphne had three children - David, Julianne and Jamie - and over the years, the family lived in Wanneroo and Kallaroo before moving to Jandabup in 1992, where Joe continues to live today.

Joe served on Wanneroo’s Council from 1983-86 and fondly remembers being appointed MC at an event celebrating Wanneroo becoming a City in October 1985.

Having been divorced twice, Joe says he could perhaps be classed as a bad boy!

However Joe is clearly not all bad....he has been involved with several community groups over the years, including the Whitfords Sea Sport Club and Wanneroo Country Club.

Joe has also been a member of Rotary International since 1972 it was whilst on a Rotary trip to Thailand that he met Ning, and the couple married in 2006.

Proud grandfather to five, Joe is happy to report that most of them are involved in the family business.

Constantly asked when he plans to retire, Joe says he will work until he’s buried, because his life revolves around his work and Rotary projects, with a healthy dose of travelling thrown in for good measure.

Joe says he remembers when Wanneroo was ‘a cut lunch and a water bag’ trip from Perth city, but it is now close to everything one may need.

He admits to some sadness seeing the landscape change over the years with bushland being cleared to make way for housing, but understands it goes hands and hand with modern life and a growing population.

Thank you Joe Hawkins for your many contributions to Wanneroo. We welcome you as a Wanneroo Pioneer.

JOSEPH JAMES HAWKINS (JOE)Joeseph with Mayor Tracey Roberts.

PIONEER PROFILE 2014

Born and raised in the Mallee region in north western Victoria, Trevor Johnson turned down offers from Collingwood and Fitzroy to achieve his boyhood dream playing for the Melbourne Football Club, who he had always supported.

Playing under the legendary Norm Smith, the four-time premiership player became a life member of his beloved Demons, one of seven life memberships of various clubs he would eventually receive.

Following his successful VFL career and several years in the commercial world - which took him to New South Wales and South Australia - Trevor and his Western Australian wife Audrey settled in Perth in 1972 with their young family; Brett, Kim, Lee and Scott.

He bought a block of land on Belgrade Road, Wanneroo, and eventually became a full-time mushroom grower, despite no farming background.

Crown Mushrooms grew into the State’s biggest privately owned mushroom producer, providing many with employment, and as the business grew, so did Trevor’s love of Wanneroo.

He joined the Wanneroo Rotary Club, where he received life membership after 25 years service, and was instrumental in establishing the Wanneroo Tennis Club, going on to form the Northern Districts Tennis Association in the fast growing suburbs within the Shire.

Trevor has also been a big supporter of the Wanneroo Show over many years, not only exhibiting his fine mushrooms but also as a sponsor.

Fond memories of Wanneroo are aplenty for this shy, high achiever, but Trevor says some of the best recollections include seeing his kids grow up surrounded by bush on a big rural block.

Inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2004, on Australia Day 2006, Trevor was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in recognition of his “service to the community of Wanneroo, particularly through local sporting and service organisations”.

His commitment to the community has been just as proficient as his business life, and today, we are very proud to welcome Trevor Johnson as a Wanneroo Pioneer.

TREVOR JOHNSON OAMTrevor with Mayor Tracey Roberts and Deputy Mayor Dot Newton.

PIONEER PROFILE 2014