'Having Too Much Fun' to Retire, 55 Years In

Osbourn's 'Miss O' Is Educator for the Ages

Michael Simpson, a military consultant from Coronado, Calif., said it is usually only work that gets him to travel 2,600 miles back to his Northern Virginia childhood home.

But when the 1969 Osbourn High School graduate learned that his former history teacher Lillian Orlich was being honored, he said nothing would have stopped him from flying across the country for her special day.

"I've never done something like this, and I can't think of anyone else I would do it for," Simpson said. "She was such a huge influence and a very special person. She opened our minds and made history come alive."

Simpson and about 100 others joined the Osbourn Park High School counselor May 1 for a celebration marking her 55 years with Prince William County public schools and her 80th birthday. Irene Cromer, spokeswoman for the school system, said Orlich is the longest-serving employee in the district.

"She was a legend even before I came nine years ago," Osbourn Park Principal Tim Healey said. "She is here every day doing her job and is someone you appreciate having on staff. Sometimes people come and go quickly, but the fact she has stayed and invested in the school makes her an icon. People know they can trust her, and she truly believes in the community, the kids and education."

"Miss O," as most students call her, came to Manassas in the early 1950s to teach at then-Osbourn High School. The Manhattan native, who moved with the rest of the Osbourn students and staff to a newly built Osbourn Park in the mid-1970s, taught English and history before becoming a guidance counselor in the middle of her career.

Never married, Orlich considers her family to be the thousands of students she has mentored, and her home is the office where she works from 3 a.m. to 4 or 5 p.m. every day. Orlich said she requires little sleep; she goes to bed about 11 p.m. and gets up to do paperwork before students arrive.

"I have no plans to retire. I'm going to die here," Orlich said as she sat in her office, which is stuffed with T-shirts, photos, teddy bears and other paraphernalia from the past 50-plus years. "I'm having too much fun, and I'd have a rough time separating myself from the teaching profession. This is my life."

Former students said it is because Orlich has made this her life that she is so revered. Her countless hours of work, breadth of knowledge, intense passion for teaching and careful attention to every student is what they admire.

"I remember she drove out to the country [Haymarket] just to have dinner with my family one night. I was thrilled to death," said Manassas resident Martha Sullivan, Class of 1955. "Now we have a friendship I really appreciate. When my husband died in 2005, I would have trouble sleeping and would call her at work at 3:30 a.m. She is just so caring."

As a teacher, Orlich was strict and challenged minds by facilitating seminar-type classes and demanding college-level work. As a counselor, students say, she encourages them to take the rigorous courses and pushes them to apply for scholarships and finish school.

"She helped me stay in school, and I wouldn't be on track if it wasn't for her calling me in almost every day," Osbourn Park junior Brandon McCoy said. "In ninth grade, I failed five classes, but Miss Orlich helped me find summer and online courses to get on track. She encouraged me and told me if I put my mind to it, I could do it."

Orlich said students today have the same thirst for knowledge, learning and adventure as they had 55 years ago. What she enjoys most is feeding them the knowledge she has acquired over the years and the face-to-face interaction she has throughout the day.

Although the faces she sees change each year, there have been some consistencies as she has worked with several generations of the same families.

Most everyone in her life was at one point one of her students. Her physician, her lawyer, her handyman and her landscape gardener are all former Osbourn or Osbourn Park students. She lists notables, too, in that number, including former San Antonio Spurs star David Robinson and Manassas Mayor Douglas S. Waldron and Vice Mayor Harry J. "Hal" Parrish II.

Although teaching has always been her passion, Orlich said she has two loves outside the classroom: aviation and the military.

"I wanted to be Amelia Earhart," she said. "I also would have gone to West Point if I was allowed, because I've always felt a strong kinship to the military."

Orlich got a stab at military life 15 years ago when she signed up to become a cadet with the school's Navy Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program. Although she was excused from some physical training, retired Capt. James Porter, who leads the program, said Orlich did her homework and wore the uniform every day.

"It was my first year of teaching, and I had this seasoned veteran in my classroom," Porter said, adding that Orlich sends new recruits to the NJROTC program. "Fifteen years later, she is one of my colleagues I most esteem because of her dedication and willingness to go that extra mile. She never gives up on a kid."

Despite her age and a bout with colon cancer, Orlich has a bounce to her step as she maneuvers the halls of the school. As students pass her, they stop to say hi or she turns to them, reminding them about a scholarship opportunity, asking about a class or letting them know she will be at their weekend event.

"Everyone knows who she is, and she knows everything about everybody," said Osbourn Park junior Heather Ours, who, with her mother, has been mentored by Orlich. "She is very respectful and, even though we are a lot younger, she never talks down to anybody. That means a lot to me."

Although many of her former students have retired, none are surprised Miss Orlich keeps going. Orlich said she plans to work until she "can't think clearly," then have her funeral in the school's auditorium, which is named for her.

"People can work long hours and make a difference, but in this field it's hard to do it year after year because people burn out," Healey, the principal, said. "When you see someone who has done this for 55 years, you can only look at her in awe. I compare her to Cal Ripkin. There is just no slowing her down."