The City of Swan has named its newest community centre after one of its longest serving residents. The Ethel Warren Bullsbrook Community Centre was officially named on 17 February at a small ceremony attended by four generations of Mrs Warren’s family and her friends.
City of Swan Mayor Mick Wainwright said Mrs Warren had spent most of her 93 years in and around Bullsbrook and was still highly involved in the local community. “Mrs Warren was a founding member of the Bullsbrook Historical Society, instrumental in setting up the Bullsbrook Museum and a long-term staff member at the Bullsbrook Community Kindergarten,” he said. “Not only has she made a significant contribution to the local area, but continues to contribute to the cultural vibrancy of the Bullsbrook community and the City is very pleased to be able to commemorate that today.”
Ethel May Warren, who was born in 1923, started her working life helping her parents on the family farm in Muchea before moving to Cottesloe with her family in 1941. There Mrs Warren took a job at the Claremont Can Factory with the Army before joining the Women’s Australian Naval Service (WRANS) where she worked as a cook. Not long after, in 1943, Ethel met her husband Colin who was stationed locally with the army. The couple had two daughters and moved back to Colin’s family property in Bullsbrook where she became immersed in the local community and worked for a number of well-known local businesses and leased the Iconic Ginger’s Roadhouse Café. Ethel then took a position at the Bullsbrook Community Kindergarten before moving to the new Pre-Primary, where she remained for ten years until her retirement.
North Ward Councillor Kevin Bailey said Mrs Warren’s contribution to and effect on the community has been profound. “Since retirement, Ethel has spent her time passing her well-honed skills in painting, sewing, patch-working and gardening onto the community,” he said. “She has always been a highly valued community member and has worked diligently in the background to help individuals and families in need,”
“To be able to honour her commitment and dedication in this way today is not only a joy, it’s an honour.” The Ethel Warren Bullsbrook Community Centre is expected to be complete by August 2017.
