{"id":648611,"date":"2026-11-02T09:26:11","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T09:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/648611\/"},"modified":"2026-11-02T09:26:11","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T09:26:11","slug":"kylie-wihapi-funeral-porirua-deputy-mayor-to-be-farewelled-at-te-rauparaha-arena","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/648611\/","title":{"rendered":"Kylie Wihapi funeral: Porirua deputy mayor to be farewelled at Te Rauparaha Arena"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wihapi\u2019s death on Saturday prompted tributes from around the country<\/a>, with Baker describing her as someone who would have given others \u201cthe shirt off her back\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"PoriruaPorirua mayor Anita Baker and Deputy Mayor Kylie Wihapi.<\/p>\n

Baker told NZME that Wihapi had dedicated much of her life to helping others, from coaching and umpiring netball to supporting charities and community initiatives.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year she got a great umpiring award for netball. She coached and umpired at regionals and she ran teams here,\u201d Baker said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe just did so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her community involvement also included Pink Ribbon breakfasts, Mary Potter Hospice and Rotary, and established an annual pet food drive in Porirua.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe didn\u2019t stop … just everything there was that needed doing, she would put her hand up and support anything,\u201d Baker said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe would have given you the shirt off her back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wihapi is survived by her husband Adam Wihapi<\/a>, son Cooper and stepson Arama, as well as parents Marlene and Rob, her brothers and wider wh\u0101nau.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have lost the love of my life, my best friend, my soulmate, my everything, my wife,\u201d Adam wrote on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved Kylie with everything and she back to me. She was amazing with Cooper, just the best mother I could have hoped for.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to miss you, my darling, you leave a void in mine and Cooper\u2019s heart. I love you so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BarbaraBarbara Edmonds (right) has shared a touching tribute describing Kylie Wihapi as an “amazing w\u0101hine”.<\/p>\n

Wihapi was first elected to Porirua City Council in 2016 and made history in 2022 when she became the city\u2019s first elected M\u0101ori ward councillor.<\/p>\n

She was appointed deputy mayor that year and retained the position after the 2025 local elections.<\/p>\n

Baker, who said she and Wihapi had been friends for about 12 years, said the death had left those closest to her struggling to come to terms with the loss.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, absolute shock for all of us. No one expects someone at 45 to pass in a tragic accident like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two books of condolence will be available for the public to sign from tomorrow at P\u0101taka Art + Museum on Parumoana St and the council\u2019s administration building in Cobham Court. <\/p>\n

The books will be moved to Te Rauparaha Arena on Saturday for the funeral service. <\/p>\n

Porirua City Council\u2019s first meeting since Wihapi\u2019s death is scheduled for Thursday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wihapi\u2019s death on Saturday prompted tributes from around the country, with Baker describing her as someone who would…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":648612,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,18919,28440,1975,5195,1259,33092,6179,3592,2109,2688,37235,1445,26524,40139,1345,22081,10934,111,43,139,69,29462,317820,8690,1961,61,4767,71895,316936,1533],"class_list":["post-648611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-after","tag-aged","tag-arena","tag-at","tag-be","tag-community","tag-deputy","tag-died","tag-fall","tag-family","tag-farewell","tag-farewelled","tag-friends","tag-funeral","tag-gather","tag-home","tag-kylie","tag-mayor","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-porirua","tag-rauparaha","tag-te","tag-this","tag-to","tag-weekend","tag-wider","tag-wihapi","tag-will"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648611","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=648611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/648612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=648611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=648611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=648611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}