{"id":646711,"date":"2026-10-31T08:14:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T08:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/646711\/"},"modified":"2026-10-31T08:14:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T08:14:10","slug":"porirua-deputy-mayor-kylie-wihapi-dies-mayor-shares-disbelief-and-heartbreak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/646711\/","title":{"rendered":"Porirua deputy mayor Kylie Wihapi dies, mayor shares \u2018disbelief\u2019 and heartbreak"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s shock death came just months after a fellow councillor Mike Duncan died suddenly in June after a daily workout.<\/a> <\/p>\n

\"Wellington'sWellington’s Deputy Mayor Ben McNulty has posted a moving tribute following the shock death of Porirua’s Deputy Mayor.<\/p>\n

Civic leaders, workmates and community groups from across the region tonight were united in disbelief at Wihapi\u2019s shock death. <\/p>\n

Wellington Deputy Mayor Ben McNulty said in an online post said her loss would be felt deeply across the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am devastated to hear the news of the tragic passing of Porirua Deputy Mayor, Kylie Wihapi and can\u2019t imagine the hurt around the Porirua City Council table as they face the loss of a second valued colleague in a year.<\/p>\n

\u201cKylie was an incredibly warm and welcoming person and deeply passionate about Porirua.\u201d<\/p>\n

Porirua City councillor and colleague Nathan Waddle said he was devastated to share the news of Wihapi\u2019s death this evening.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn incredible woman, and leader with in our city, also an incredible friend since my time joining the council whanau. <\/p>\n

\u201cRest easy Cr Wihapi.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BarbaraBarbara Edmonds has shared a touching tribute describing Wihapi as an “amazing wahine”.<\/p>\n

Labour\u2019s finance spokesperson Barabara Edmonds, MP for nearby suburb Kenepuru, described Wihapi as an \u201camazing local wahine\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cKylie was everywhere and anywhere. Whether it was on the netball court as a dedicated referee, hosting her annual Pink Breakfast to raise funds for the Breast Cancer Foundation, coordinating her annual Christmas pet food drive, filling in for the Mayor Anita Baker, coaching netball teams even though she didn\u2019t have a daughter, or following her beloved son Cooper on the rugby field sidelines… her energy for life was just immeasurable. <\/p>\n

\u201cThank you e hoa for all that you\u2019ve done for us and for Porirua. Ia manuia lau malaga.\u201d (Safe journey home). <\/p>\n

\"PoriruaPorirua Deputy Mayor Kylie Wihapi has died unexpectedly. Photo \/ Porirua City Council<\/p>\n

Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer tonight extended her condolences to Wihapi\u2019s wh\u0101nau and thinking of everyone at the council. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe was so passionate about Porirua, every conversation with her was of huge pride for the whole community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chair of Greater Wellington, Daran Ponter, said: \u201cSo sorry to hear of Councillor Kylie Wihapi\u2019s passing. Our thoughts are with her family, friends and Porirua Council wh\u0101nau. Arohanui.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mayor of Lower Hutt, Fauono Ken Laban, said he was deeply saddened about the news of Wihapi\u2019s passing and described her as an intelligent and passionate leader who had \u201cso much more to give\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy heartfelt condolences to Kylie\u2019s family, wh\u0101nau, Mayor Anita Baker and the wider Porirua community during this difficult time.\u201c<\/p>\n

He finished his tribute with a Samoan proverb that translates as: \u201cBlessed is the moon that leaves but always returns.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mana College tonight paid tribute online sending deepest condolences to Wihapi\u2019s family and Porirua City Council. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe were so privileged to be with her and have her present the PCC Cup for leadership at our recent Senior Prizegiving.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer positive energy and commitment to our kura and that of Porirua will always be remembered.\u201d<\/p>\n

Te Tai Hau\u0101uru Labour candidate Te P\u016boho K\u0101tene described the death as \u201cheartbreaking news\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe just sat next to each other at the Mana Colelge Prizegiving.\u201d <\/p>\n

One Agency Select Realty said the firm was \u201cabsolutely gutted\u201d.<\/p>\n

Wihapi was a part of their wh\u0101nau and they had lost her far too soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of you knew Kylie as Porirua\u2019s deputy mayor. We were lucky enough to also know her as a colleague and a friend. She loved this city and its people; and you could feel it in everything she did. Her vibrant personality will be incredibly missed.\u201c<\/p>\n

Even the Porirua Fire Brigade sent a message of \u201carohanui\u201d to Wihapi\u2019s family.<\/p>\n

Wihapi was confirmed as Porirua\u2019s M\u0101ori Ward councillor in last year\u2019s local body elections after a recount was launched by candidate Jess Te Huia.<\/p>\n

The judicial recount found Wihapi to have won by nine votes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Today\u2019s shock death came just months after a fellow councillor Mike Duncan died suddenly in June after a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":646712,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[95,45621,13849,634,33092,6179,7126,91144,72919,22081,10934,111,43,139,69,29462,316937,180,13744,5911,41656,316936,102],"class_list":["post-646711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-and","tag-announcing","tag-citys","tag-death","tag-deputy","tag-died","tag-dies","tag-disbelief","tag-heartbreak","tag-kylie","tag-mayor","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-porirua","tag-poriruas","tag-shares","tag-shock","tag-tonight","tag-unexpectedly","tag-wihapi","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=646711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646711\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/646712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=646711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=646711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=646711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}