Lorinda Thomas was born on August 7, 1945, in Roanoke, VA. She graduated from Patrick Henry High School there in 1963 and from Mary Baldwin College in 1967, where she was Vice President of her senior class. She taught in the Frederick County school system for 34 years, mostly at Frederick County Middle School. She taught computers there and was named “Teacher of the Year” for that school twice. Later she worked in computers at Shenandoah University, where she had received her master’s degree in 1992. She served on the boards of Shalom et Benedictus and Head Start for several years each. She served two terms on the Christ Episcopal Church Vestry Board where she achieved the breakthrough of being the first female usher in church history.
Lorinda “Rindy” Lionberger was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Business Hall of Fame in 2008.