Janet Powell obituary: Civic-minded sports fan rallied for causes

West Australian

5 days ago

With table tennis bat in hand, Janet Powell was a fighter for points. When a different sort of battle loomed in connection with the more serene sport of lawn bowls, she was up for it. As a city councillor in Belmont, she backed the bowlers who were in danger of losing their green and clubhouse after 60 years of activity.
Her appeal went wider than winning scores. 'With health and mental health more important than ever, our seniors need our support to help save their club,' she wrote in her community message. She had organised a petition and moved a council motion seeking legal opinion on the lease between Belmont's sports centre and its bowlers. Her eventual victory was sweet.
As for table tennis, her friend and partner with the bat, Steve Sampson, recalls another reason for Janet to feel triumphant.
'We won our competition in the first year we played together undefeated, and entered the State championships. We tried to train hard, with regular runs, but quite often a pub would be in the way of our regime . . . that is where the training would come to a sudden halt. Janet always laughed about that. That was her fun for life attitude.'
Much of Janet's contribution to the City of Belmont related to more serious matters. She was keenly across agendas, meetings and resolutions — a councillor from 2001 to 2021 and re-elected during an extraordinary election for south ward in June 2024.
The city's formal statement said it was 'deeply saddened' by her death. 'Councillor Powell represented our community as a proactive and hardworking member. She was on many committees, including time as presiding member of the community vision standing committee, and member of the age-friendly and cultural diversity working groups.'
She also represented the City of Belmont on the Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council for 16 years and the WA Local Government Association East Metropolitan Zone for 10 years.
In a more glamorous vein, she was proud to have put on finery to meet Prince Charles (now King Charles III) at a ball in Perth in 1979. The Prince was on a royal tour as the State marked the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Swan River Colony. Surely this brush with royalty, almost a decade after emigrating from England with her family, would have impressed former classmates in her birthplace, Stockport, just south of Manchester.
Janet Houston was the only child of Enid (nee Holdsworth) and Andrew Houston. The journey to Fremantle on the cruise ship Achille Lauro was made extra memorable by their daughter's winning a table tennis tournament on board.
In 1973 Janet married Mario Pietracatella, whose family were prominent in Perth's restaurant scene. Janet, as well as working with her husband, operated several small businesses over the years, including flower arranging and lingerie party planning. Civic-minded jobs in sales and management covered links with the Red Cross and Salvation Army.
She had the lioness' share of looking after their daughters, Rachel and Naomi. Rachel remembers that Janet's concern for people in need in her community led to practical benefit in such ways as fostering an Aboriginal girl, Carmel, from Sister Kate's children's home in Queens Park. In the 70s this was a more courageous cultural reach than it would be today.
The marriage ended in 1986. In the same year Janet married David Powell. They divorced in 2008.
Her consistent kindness and compassion were among qualities treasured by family and friends. Phil Marks, an admirer of her work as well as council ally and Belmont's mayor for 12 years, also respected her bravery.
'Janet had a great belief in truth,' he says, 'doing the right thing and never taking a backward step. In 2001, with her on council for only a few months, an important vote was needed to pass a development on the corner of Great Eastern Highway and Graham Farmer Freeway. The landowners wanted to make money and didn't want it to go ahead. They rang Janet the night before the vote and 15 minutes before she went into the chamber and warned her of legal action if this passed. Janet was upset but still voted in the development. It took great courage to face down a large group of landowners.'
A cancer diagnosis was a major setback, but Janet's spirits kept their shape. Sepsis, which affects the immune system, proved fatal.
Janet Powell died on April 18, survived by her partner, Arthur Koulis, her two daughters, Rachel and Naomi, two grandchildren, and her mother, Enid Houston. Naomi points to her 'mum's deep reservoir of integrity'. Rachel relished being 'Mum's plus one at official events and conferences. Our lives were melded in work and play.'
Landmarks also survive Belmont's tireless champion, who cherished the past as well as upheld priorities in the present. The old brickworks next to Ascot Racecourse is believed to be Australia's largest collection of beehive-style kilns. Loud voices recommended demolition. Janet, who always regretted the destruction of buildings in her home town of Stockport, was an early supporter of retaining Ascot's kilns. Protests made newspaper headlines. Janet could count the kilns, heritage-listed in 2020, as a triumph to share.
Town councillor and community stalwart
Born:
Stockport, England
Died:
Subiaco, April 2025