Published on Thursday, 1 April 2021 at 4:12:53 PM
Picture Caption: The Memorial Wall at the Mullewa Pioneer Cemetery was officially opened by Councillor Jennifer Critch, Mr Kevin Merritt and Mrs Yvonne Radcliffe.
Locals and dignitaries attended the official opening of the Mullewa Pioneer Cemetery Memorial Wall, the renaming of what is now the ‘Doc Docherty Pool’ and a new plaque at the Mullewa Town Hall in remembrance of Mrs Josephine Docherty.
The celebrations and projects part of the 125 year commemorations were led and run by a local committee of volunteers.
City of Greater Geraldton Mayor Shane Van Styn applauded the committee for steering such a momentous community project.
“I think everyone in the community would agree the elements unveiled as part of the 125 year celebrations are extremely meaningful to Mullewa’s history,” he said.
“This is a significant moment in Mullewa and I’d like to thank the committee who have worked tirelessly with a number of stakeholders to see this come to fruition.
“Mullewa holds a very special place in the history of the Midwest and we love seeing the town in the spotlight.”
Mullewa was officially gazetted as a municipality on 3 April 1895. 125 year celebrations were originally planned for 2020 and were postponed due to COVID-19.
The documented history of Mullewa showed a lack of early records when it came to the burials at the Pioneer Cemetery. Due to ongoing issues, it was difficult to locate graves at the site which meant many graves had been lost over time.
After careful research, Yamatji People, along with pioneers of the district, are finally honoured side-by-side on the Memorial Wall.
The Memorial Wall at the Mullewa Pioneer Cemetery was officially opened by Mr Kevin Merritt, Mrs Yvonne Radcliffe and Councillor Jennifer Critch.
Formalities continued at the Mullewa Pool which has seen it officially re-named the ‘Doc Docherty Pool’. The late Dr Patrick John Docherty was active in the community since the 1960s and also a keen user of the Mullewa Pool.
Dr Docherty passed away in July 2012 and is remembered for many acts of kindness and someone who went above and beyond his duty as a Medical Practitioner.
Recognition continued with a plaque revealed at the Mullewa Town Hall to respect and remember Wildflower Show founder and volunteer Mrs Josephine Docherty.
Mrs Sam Messina who led the working group of dedicated volunteers thanked the team for what they had achieved over the 18 months of planning.
“The group collaboratively worked with the heritage team from the City to build a memorial garden and wall for all those souls who are buried at this facility without location or recognition,” she said.
“We thank Clem Keefe, Vivienne Crudeli, Bernadette Drummond and Trudi Cornish for their tireless hours of research in collating the list of people now on display.
“This event has been a brilliant example of Council working together with the community.”
Mrs Messina also mentioned the work of the local Mullewa Community Resource Centre and thanked them for their contribution.
The City Infrastructure teams from Geraldton and Mullewa were also praised for their efforts in preparing and installing the Memorial Wall, as well as getting the site cleaned up.
In addition to in-kind support provided for the celebrations, the City was happy to fund the works at the Pioneer Cemetery, including the wonderful new Memorial Wall, as well as producing the new sign acknowledging Doc Docherty at the pool.
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