In the 1980s, Mary Ann Parr forged a well-worn path between her Corner restaurant, The Virginian, and the academic buildings at the University of Virginia.
The young mother and entrepreneur would take off her apron, “run across the Lawn and take a class,” she said.
Parr, now 74, took her last walk to class in January, ending an extraordinary 45-year run as a Wahoo.
She hadn’t taken a class at UVA since 2020 and didn’t plan on enrolling in the two-credit printmaking course until she heard from Elizabeth Ozment, her academic advising dean in the College of Arts & Sciences. Ozment had been studying Parr’s transcript, which began in 1968 with credits from Rosemont College and the University of Maryland, when she made a stunning realization.
Parr, her voice cracking, said the dean told her, “If you just take this J-term class for two credits … you will be able to graduate in May and walk the Lawn.”
It was a dream long in the making and one that came from something Parr has called “a providential lesson in humility.”
The Beginning of a New Life
“In early May of 1971, while I was finishing up my spring semester at the University of Maryland, my mother, who never wrote to me, sent me a letter that said that my father was not doing well. He was sick,” Parr said.
Wendell Parr died three months later of acute leukemia, leaving behind a wife and six children. Mary Ann was the oldest child.
Parr still pitches in at Beer Run, known for its good food and extensive beer and wine collection. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)
“My mother’s worries overcame her. Money was scarce with many bills, medical and otherwise,” she said. So Parr got a job and did the best she could for her family.
“I was working and studying how to survive,” she said. “It sounds a bit heroic, but it was not. I was immediately making a lot of decisions, all about keeping things going and hoping for the best for my brothers and sisters. I had to do it, so I did.”
The experience set her on a new path.
Kickstarting Charlottesville’s ‘Food Scene’
In 1975, a 24-year-old Parr arrived in Charlottesville with her infant son, Josh, and a former partner, with the dream of opening a restaurant. She had always been drawn to good food and hospitality. The Parr family had a distant friend who owned The Virginian.
“So, we came down and bought it,” she said. “We opened up and then six months later, the C&O (restaurant) opened up. The food scene was just sort of starting. We opened and were immediately packed.”
Parr is a serial entrepreneur. She and Maggie Cox, left, opened their first catalog outlet store, Barr-ee Station, on the Corner in 1988. At its peak, there were 10 stores spread across Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. One remains in Duck, North Carolina, where this photo was taken. Parr's daughter, Molly, is in the middle. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)
Parr began taking classes at UVA as an English major in 1980. In 1984 and 1985, she was a full-time student on top of being a restauranteur and mother. “But it was incredibly difficult,” she said. “I just got incredibly burned out.”
Parr sold The Virginian in 1988, but couldn’t shake her love of restaurants. “I get a lot of happiness making people happy with food and helping them,” she said.
Her next venture was an Italian fine dining place called Rococo’s, in operation off Hydraulic Road for about 13 years. In 2007, Parr got the idea to start a beer store and opened Beer Run.
When her son Josh and stepson John decided they wanted to launch a beer hall, Parr helped out and Kardinal Hall opened its doors in 2015. Both businesses still thrive today.
Josh Hunt, Parr, John and Dennis Woodriff meet at Beer Run in Charlottesville to discuss business. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)
Meanwhile, she continued taking classes, changing her major to psychology before settling on studio art. “To me, learning was really important and I always felt that I needed to finish my education,” she explained.
A Fourth Finals Weekend, This Time for Mom
In 1989, Parr married her husband, Dennis Woodriff. He brought to the fold three young sons, John, Hans and Chapman, who became Josh’s stepbrothers. Then the couple had a daughter, Molly.
Parr works on a project in January at her final course, a studio class on printmaking. Her adviser hunted down the studio and told Parr if she took the class, she could complete her undergraduate degree and walk the Lawn in May. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)
Three of the children went on to graduate from UVA, Hans with a degree in anthropology in 2002, Chapman with a degree in linguistics in 2003 and Molly in 2010 with a bioethics major and studio art minor.
Parr watched each of them descend the Rotunda stairs and process down the Lawn during Final Exercises. Now, come May 17, it’s her turn.
