Celia Angela Woerner, a unique and truly remarkable matriarch whose resolute faith helped sustain her during a lengthy fight with ovarian and pancreatic cancer, passed away peacefully on Saturday, December 20, 2025, at her home in Chula Vista, CA with her family at her side. She was born on October 21, 1942, and was raised and educated in Mexico City by her parents, Jose Mariano Martin Bernal Santamaria and Francisca Pérez Albeano.

She was known to her younger siblings, Victor and Jesús, by the slang nickname “Popotitos” who shared with her a joyful adolescence and young adulthood filled with parties and dancing. Her love of music stayed with her throughout her life. The ambient noise of her household frequently included her whistling songs as she cooked unparalleled versions of mole poblano and pozole. The latter was so legendary that the family pet Dalmatian, Sport, developed calluses on his front legs from straining to see over the family room couch into the kitchen from which an intoxicating smell was emanating. (Celia loved Sport but always complained about the presence of his white fur on her clothing.) She also loved a good mojito.

Celia met her husband, James Paul (Jim) Woerner, Jr., in 1964 when he was a US State Department funded undergraduate foreign exchange student in Mexico. They married on June 11, 1966, after he graduated from the University of Nebraska and was commissioned as a Naval Officer through that school’s NROTC training program. Their love story would continue uninterrupted for sixty more years and allowed them and their children to enjoy worldwide travel both during his 23-year Navy career and afterwards.

Celia was particularly devoted to the adoration of Saint Martin de Porres and the Virgen de Guadalupe whose Basilica was located a short distance from her childhood home. She considered herself blessed to have also visited others sites dedicated to the Blessed Mother Mary, including the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC, the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragosa, the Sagrada Familia Temple in Barcelona, the Basilica of Our Lady of Chiquinquirá, located in the Colombian city of Tunja as well as the nearby Sanctuary dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary in the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá and yet another located in Las Lajas, Ipiales, Colombia.

Celia was such a force of personality that it often felt the universe traveled around her rather than the inverse. Known for her playful cross-language idioms and malaphors (“Momisms”), she would tell advice-seekers to deal with challenges by proclaiming “That’s just the way the cookie bounces,” and then double down on the notion that despite the way others might spin that phrase, the products of the linguistic bakery she proudly operated, did not, in fact, crumble.

While over the years she held a variety of jobs ranging from See’s Candy vendor to Talbots associate, she was best described as an educator both for her family at home and for students enrolled in classes she taught at the YMCA which included parenting skills for individuals confronting situations of domestic turmoil.  She also held court regularly offering generous wisdom for all who were lucky enough to call her a friend.

She was known as an elegant, fashionable woman who preached the gospel of accessorizing, a rule that seemed to apply to every aspect of her life. Loving text messages sent to friends and family incorporated impressive quantities of emojis. Visitors to her home would see her décor change seasonally and her reputation for impeccable taste would precede her when she visited others as well. She would catalogue and plan outfits to pack and wear far in advance. Even in the depths of her illness, she would astonish the nurses and doctors caring for her with her adaptable use of a collection of scarves, eyeglass frames, and hats to make chemotherapy sessions appear more pleasant than anyone ever imagined.

She was fierce in her devotion to her family and took immense pride in the achievements and generosity of her children and grandchildren. Inspired by her daughter Anita’s fundraising for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation charity, she once shaved her head to demonstrate solidarity (a kindness that was repaid years later when Anita could return the favor as Celia fought cancer herself.) Yet she never took herself too seriously or lacked humor: When her elder son Robert delivered a toast at her younger son Timothy’s wedding, it was Celia that proved the heckler in the crowd.

She lived fearlessly and refused to be defined by the sadness of her diagnoses instead of the stubbornness of her joy. She envisioned jazz bands, and bagpipes, and mariachis heralding her departure from this world, as if the mythology of a single culture would be insufficient to announce her.

She is survived by her husband Jim; her children, Robert (Kalah) Woerner of Tampa, FL, Anita (Sergio) Ortiz of Whittier, CA, Timothy (Allison) Woerner of Elgin, IL; her grandchildren, James Woerner III, Samuel Woerner, Calvin Woerner and Sawyer Woerner; and her brother, Victor Bernal Pérez . She was preceded in death by her parents and brother, Jesús Bernal Pérez.

Relatives and friends are invited to pay their respects at a Catholic Mass which will be said for the repose of her soul on January 3, 2026 at 11am at Corpus Christi Catholic Church, 450 Corral Canyon Road, Bonita, CA and live streamed via the Church’s web site. A celebration of life for loved ones outside of Southern California will follow at a date and time to be announced.

Celia was immensely grateful for the kind and compassionate care she received at the Naval Medical Center San Diego, and in the hope of a future without pancreatic cancer asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be sent to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. Many friends and relatives anticipate walking in her honor at the PanCAN PurpleStride Chicago 2026 event on Saturday, April 25, 2026. More information about donating to PanCAN via Team Celia’s efforts to honor her can be found at http://support.pancan.org/goto/TeamCelia.