That’s how Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said he imagined it during the sergeant’s public funeral Friday, in front of about 3,000 people at Utah State University’s Dee Glen Smith Spectrum arena. Cox never met Sorensen, but officers from the small Tremonton-Garland Police Department can attest to it.

Sorensen was there for his fellow officers’ rough days, and also right after the births of their children. Officers and family members described him as a patient voice, and a person many in the Tremonton-Garland community could rely on.

“Lee was a true hero. Even on that fateful night, Lee stood for everything the men in blue stand for. Lee did his job. Lee did what was asked of him,” his brother Will Sorensen said. “You’ll never find a kinder, (more) loving person than Lee. I guarantee it.”

The service had several speakers both from Sorensen’s family and the station. Many wore blue ribbons on their chest, and almost none could contain tears while speaking of his life.

Sorensen received his bachelor’s degree in agriculture from Utah State University this year, fulfilling one of his lifelong goals. He always had multiple jobs. He was a jokester, and a peacemaker with a special skill to de-escalate any fight, Will Sorensen said.

“He cared about everybody, he cared about his community, he cared about his family,” Will Sorensen said, telling stories he had heard over the past two weeks about his brother, and how he walked women leaving their late-night shifts to their cars, or took time out of his day to talk with drivers about the importance of wearing a seatbelt. “That is caring, that is loving, that is Lee.”

That lively memory remains after Sorensen and officer Eric Estrada were killed on Aug. 17 while responding to a domestic violence incident. An autographed closed-up photo of his face — that he printed as a joke — still hangs at the department. And this year, during the Box Elder County Fair, everyone thought about him and Estrada at the sight of two riderless horses brought out during the rodeo in their honor.

Among the many jobs Sorensen had, was a role as an investigator for the Office of the Medical Examiner, a place that Cox described as a “tough place with very strong people. People who see the worst tragedies every single day.”

A day after Sorensen’s killing “they weren’t the stoic people I knew,” Cox said. “The tears were flowing.” That same day was also Sorensen’s 31st wedding anniversary with his wife, Lanette, Cox learned then.

“(When) I became governor, and I realized, that literally, I have people who wear the badge whose job it is to protect me and my family, to take a bullet for us. Then I realized that’s not just something the governor gets. That’s something that every person in Utah gets,” Cox said. “I’m in a room full of people who put a badge on every day, a badge that says, ‘I will take a bullet for you.'”

Sorensen died while responding to a domestic violence incident from a home near Bear River High School with Estrada, whose funeral was Thursday.

According to court documents, the officers were responding to 911 hang-up calls when 32-year-old Ryan Michael Bate emerged from the house with a “high-powered rifle,” killing one of the two officers. It’s still uncertain which officer arrived at the scene first. Bate immediately shot the second other officer that arrived at the home, killing him as well.

A sheriff’s deputy and his police service dog were also shot that day and are in recovery.

After the shootings, investigators said they learned Bate had slammed his wife’s head into a doorframe, grabbed her throat, pinned her down and threatened to kill her. He’s now facing 20 separate charges, including aggravated murder, a capital offense in Utah. Box Elder County prosecutors announced they will pursue the death penalty if Bate is convicted.

A life of sacrifice

What made Sorensen a remarkable member of the community wasn’t only defined by what happened that final night, Cox said. But, what he did every day before.

“Lee was not just willing to take a bullet for all of us,” Cox said, “Lee was willing to wear out his life in service to all of us.”

Sorensen is survived by his wife Lanette, his children Lacee and Landon, and many cousins, nieces and nephews — so many that dozens of them performed a musical number during the service as a choir.

Tremonton-Garland Police Chief Dustin Cordova described Sorensen as “sharp-witted, thoughtful, always prepared and never afraid to speak up for those around him.” Also as someone who never missed an opportunity to teach.

“Today we mourn our brother, who gave everything in the service of others. He sacrificed himself to protect an innocent life that night and he will forever be our hero,” Cordova said. “His bravery is not just a memory. It’s a torch passed to us.”