Sgt. Lee Sorensen funeral service honors his bravery, humor and sacrifice

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SALT LAKE CITY — A community gathered in Logan Friday to remember and honor the life of Tremonton-Garland Sgt. Lee Sorensen, after his death while on duty on Aug. 17.

Sorensen was accompanied in death by another officer, Eric Estrada, who was also killed on the fateful night, and was honored in a funeral service at the same location on Thursday. Sorensen is survived by his wife, Lanette, his daughter Lacie and his son Landon, along with his mother and many brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews.

After an opening prayer and salute, Kirk Larsen, a friend of Sorensen’s, demonstrated the type of person he was and how he served his community with multiple stories. Larsen shared an instance when Sorensen had asked him for help — Sorenson’s daughter Lacie was stranded in Salt Lake City after a car accident late at night.

“He asked if I would hook a trailer behind my truck and go with him,” Larsen said. “I thought that was strange. Lee had a pickup of his own. Why were we taking mine? ”

Little did Larsen know, Sorensen had planned to give his daughter his own truck. Through tears, Larsen explained the instantaneous selflessness Sorensen exuded.

“I said, ‘Lee, what will you drive to work?’ He said, ‘It doesn’t matter. I’ll find a ride,” Larsen said. “That’s just the type of person Lee was — his sacrifice, he willingly gave.”

‘I wanted him to be my sergeant’

Sorensen was scheduled to be sworn in to his newly promoted position of sergeant on the Friday after his death. Although he was never officially sworn in, the department gladly honored him with the title.

From the podium, Officer Colton Buckley shared his own story from before Sorensen’s promotion: the grave shift patrol crew jokingly wrote with window markers on Sorensen’s patrol car, drawing sergeant stripes with the supervisor title on them, and promptly left.

“I had only gone three blocks when a chat came across our computers telling us we were all fired,” Buckley said, audience laughing, “for defacing police property.”

When the opportunity came for Sorensen to be put up for the sergeant position, “our whole crew nominated him, because we were afraid that he wouldn’t do it himself.”

On Aug. 7, Sorensen tested for the position, and Buckley sent him a text wishing him luck. He passed, and soon accepted the position.

“I wanted him to be my sergeant. I loved working with him and for him,” Buckley said. “…I knew that my mentor had achieved a hard-earned and well-deserved position.”

Another Tremonton-Garland Officer Grayson Jackson shared similar sentiments, and said Sorensen was there for him as a loyal friend.

“One moment that sits with me and always will happened just last month on July 20th,” Jackson said. “I was having a rough day and Lee could see it. Somehow, he always found me.”

Sorensen then encouraged him to go home: “‘See your wife and hug your baby,'” Sorensen told him. 

When his daughter was born a month early, Jackson continued, he texted Sorensen to tell him things hadn’t gone as planned, and he’d have to take the day off. Sorensen replied, reassuring him that he needn’t worry about work.

“Couple hours later, sitting in the hospital room, a nervous nurse walked into the hospital room and said, ‘Uhhh … there’s a cop outside for you?” the audience laughed. “I instantly, without hesitation, knew who it was,” Jackson said. “It was Lee, because that’s who he was showing up, checking in, making sure the people he cared about were okay in their time of need.”

‘A torch passed’

Tremonton-Garland Chief Dustin Cordova spoke of Sorensen as the “teacher who made learning fun and the friend who could make you laugh on your hardest day.” In the spirit of teaching as Sorensen did constantly, Cordova offered words of encouragement for the future without him.

“To every law enforcement officer here today. Look around. We are family, bound by courage, sacrifice, and love for something greater than ourselves,” he said. “Please don’t take that for granted. Lee never did. As an officer, you will consistently deal with people on their worst day. This job can make you feel like the world is bad, that people do not care, and it is ‘us versus them.’ That is not true. This week we witnessed thousands of people come together to show us love.”

Cordova continued, sincerely thanking the community that had shown up for his department, saying it was what carried them through the heartbreak.

“His bravery is not just a memory. It is a torch passed to us when we put on the badge tomorrow. We must carry it with his honor in our hearts,” Cordova said. “We will hold the line, answer the call and protect the innocent. With renewed strength for Lee, for his family, and for the people. He gave everything to protect. That is how we honor him, and that is how his spirit lives on.