< Back to Oral History project: Tidewater Foodways
ORAL HISTORY
Charles and Mary Alice Woerner
Charles Woerner, born in 1937, and his wife, Mary Alice, born in 1936, are natives of Tidewater Virginia. They met while working for NASA at Langley Air Force Base. Charles worked as an engineer. Mary Alice worked as a mathematician. After retiring from NASA, the Woerners settled in Gloucester County, Virginia. They are parishioners of the Church of St. Therese and volunteer their time and skills for large-scale meals and fundraisers. Charles Woerner wrote a cookbook, Cooking for 100. They are known for their crab cakes, pig roasts, and Mardi Gras dinners. Their meals raise funds for the Bread for Life food bank, an interfaith effort that serves four hundred families at multiple churches throughout the Tidewater.