CIA lawyer from Sandusky wins top award

SANDUSKY — Retired Lt. Col. Virginia Orr, a Sandusky native, is a U.S. government lawyer. She sais she does much the same work as other lawyers.It's "fairly typical legal work, except that you have a very interesting client," Orr said.Orr, a 1972 Sandusky High School graduate, works as an attorney for the CIA, reporting to work at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va.Orr said the CIA is a good employer, and apparently people at the agency like her, too. She recently received the CIA Office of General Counsel's Kathy Stewart Award, which recognizes CIA attorneys who show dedication to service, commitment to the rule of law and showing genuine care for others.Orr's good friends from Sandusky, Dean and Jane Lucal, went to Washington for the awards ceremony.Dean Lucal said Orr is a "very quiet, stately lady," interested in politics and music, who works very hard on the job."Everything has to be just right," Lucal said."I would describe her as one of the nicest people I ever met," Jane Lucal said. "She's like a third daughter to us. I have two daughters."The Register can't report much about Orr's CIA duties — for one thing, she's not allowed to discuss them — but we can report about her long career in government service, and her longtime interest in both music and law.Orr was born in Sandusky on Nov. 9, 1953. She is the daughter of the late James L. and Virginia A. Orr. Growing up in Sandusky, where her family was active at Second Baptist Church, Orr showed her interest in music. At Sandusky High, she sang and played the violin in the school orchestra.She also was picked to attend Girls State and heard from a number of speakers, including women, and realized that becoming a lawyer was a possible career.After she got a bachelor's degree in music education from Illinois Wesleyan University, Orr joined the Air Force as a member of the "Singing Sergeants," performing in much of the U.S. and in Europe.Although she returned to school and got a master's degree in music, Orr concluded that singing was not a practical career for her."Reality kind of set in. I realized I like music, but I liked eating better," Orr said.So Orr got a law degree from the University of Illinois and went to work in the Air Force as a judge advocate.By adding to her previous years of service, she could compile 20 years in the Air Force and earn retirement."I'm a very practical person," Orr said.Orr's parents didn't go to college, Jane Lucal said."She did this herself," Lucal said.Orr rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel and retired in 2003 after 21 years of service.Part of her career was spent at the Pentagon, and Sept. 11, 2001, was another day at work there for Orr, although you couldn't say it was typical.Her office faced the interior courtyard of the building, and she was at her computer when a co-worker came in and said a plane had hit one of the Twin Towers in New York.The co-worker wondered if that would happen at the Pentagon. Orr replied that it seemed unlikely.A short time later, however, Orr heard a big thud and saw debris blow past her window. Although she knew little at the time about what had happened, a hijacked airliner hit the building.A siren went off, and everyone was told to evacuate."We saw a large plume of smoke. We didn't really know what had happened," Orr said.Jets started circling the air, in case there was another attack on the White House.Orr lived close enough to walk home, so she had an easier time than co-workers who had to try to drive home on jammed roads. When she got home, the answering machine was filled with messages from relatives and the Lucals, asking if she was OK.Orr still likes music and recently discovered it's easy to catch a train to New York and see performances at the Metropolitan Opera House. Her favorite opera is Verdi's "Aida." She said she doesn't watch spy shows but likes comedies, musicals and action films.Orr's relatives are deceased, but she still returns to Sandusky to visit the Lucals. "I think of them as my adopted parents," she said. Orr likes to drive around Sandusky when she comes to visit, and she usually drives by her old church, Second Baptist Church.Retired Lt. Col. Virginia Orr, a Sandusky native who's an attorney for the Central Intelligence Agency.