From badges to collars

Two men from different parts of Shawano County had at one point in time served together at the county sheriff’s department.

Both men have since traded their badges for clerical collars — still serving people, but in a totally different capacity. Both have learned to listen to the Holy Spirit directing their lives through every phase.

When Keith Sorlie graduated high school, he’d narrowed his life’s choices down to four things: teacher, law enforcement, military or pastor.

“When I talked to my pastor at Bethel, he said, ‘Well, do you feel like you’re being called by the Holy Spirit?’ and I remembering responding ‘What does that feel like?’ and he had said, ‘If you have to ask, it’s probably not happening,’” Sorlie said. “So I crossed that off the list.

“I’m a hometown boy and thought the military might be too daunting. So that left teacher or law enforcement, and teaching was inside work. Law enforcement seemed to me to be more of a challenge, so law enforcement it was.”

Sorlie graduated in 1986 from Carroll College in Waukesha, with a criminal justice degree and a minor in English and psychology, which spawned a law enforcement career lasting close to 29 years.

First employed with the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, Sorlie went on to work as a patrolman with the Wisconsin State Patrol in 1991. Then his wife, Lisa, was hired by Shawano County as a dispatcher in 1995.

“Shawano County expanded its force, and I got hired there as a patrol officer for a number of years, then was a drug detective for the next 15 years,” Sorlie said. “After that I switched jobs, working for the city of Shawano Police Department.”

The biggest challenge in law enforcement is to balance career and home life.

“It’s incredibly demanding, and it never leaves a person. For example, even to this day, my wife and I can’t go on a trip together without me pointing out expired plates,” Sorlie said.

Retiring from the police force in 2020, Sorlie discovered in the fall of 2021 that his home church, Bethel Lutheran, was in dire need of a pastor.

“The spirit started calling me,” Sorlie said. “Every time I tried to say no, it got funneled into a yes. My supportive wife teased me I failed at retirement. She had encouragingly said, ‘Gee, if only we knew someone who had some extra time on their hands.’”

Starting in the fall of 2022, Sorlie’s seminary training was completed with an online degree through Wartburg Theological Seminary located in Dubuque, Iowa. Sorlie earned a certificate, which allowed him to serve as an ordained pastor, in May of 2025, with an ordination ceremony taking place less than a year later at Bethel Lutheran Church in Cecil.

Fully supported by his family and congregation, Sorlie said, “I’ve been very blessed. A couple of lay people are able to fill in and preach when I’m not here, but for the most part I am by myself. I enjoy being with people and writing sermons; the old English degree kicks in.

“I am blessed on this whole journey from the beginning to the end. I get to come full circle back to my roots, serving people at the church I was baptized in. I just kept following the Lord’s nudges. Listen and obey, and He’ll take us on an adventure.”

Law enforcement and pastoral duties have similarities.

“I just listen to people and what they need,” Sorlie said. “The outcomes are a little different, obviously. If someone breaks the law they have to suffer the consequences, but I tried to be compassionate and kind during my time on the force. It’s all about listening to what people are going through. I can’t solve their problem, but I can be there offering support and guidance and prayer.”

Steve Conradt began his law enforcement career after a ride-along with his brother — who was an officer with the Wisconsin Rapids police department — piqued his curiosity.

The last of three boys in the family, Conradt had felt obligated to help his parents out on the family farm. He had worked at a slaughterhouse for about a year, cutting the feed out of cow stomachs.

“I’m sitting there, emptying out those stomachs, and you just kind of think to yourself: ‘Is this something I want to do for the rest of my life?’” Conradt said.

He heard the Shawano County Sheriff Department was hiring, and he applied for and got a position within the force, starting Jan. 1, 1977, for $2 per hour.

“I had to buy my own gun and ammo and hung with the department long enough to get a uniform and a badge. All the training we did was in-house,” Conradt said.

From 1977 through 1984, Conradt served as a deputy sheriff and also helped his mom and dad run their family farm.

“All my vacations were taken to get farm work done and the hay off in the summer,” he said. “I caught a break in August 1984 when my parents sold the farm.”

Through the years, Conradt advanced from jailer to dispatcher, moving to patrol, to criminal investigator, to lieutenant and finally promoted to chief deputy under Sheriff Robert A. Schmidt. A highly-decorated officer, Conradt was named Arson Investigator of the Year for the state of Wisconsin by the International Association of Arson Investigators, Wisconsin Chapter.

“Pretty good for a kid from the twin cities of Pella and Leopolis,” Conradt said.

Retiring from law enforcement after over 30 years, Conradt considered the possibility of becoming a pastor. At his baptism in 1956, the pastor of St. John Lutheran Church-Hermansfort had prophesied to Conradt’s mom that someday he would become a pastor.

Close to 60 years later that came true, but not without sacrifice.

Three years after retiring from the force, Conradt’s wife, Bernadette, saw an advertisement by Fort Wayne seminary recruiters in their church bulletin. After some convincing, Conradt agreed to meet with Pastor Steve Wagner in Green Bay, which started the ball rolling.

At 56 years of age, in February 2011, after taking some courses at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College-Shawano, Conradt was accepted into the Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Spending 2½ years there, including summer classes to more swiftly complete his degree, followed by a year of vicarage at St. John Hermansfort, meant during training, Conradt was away from his beloved family for extended periods of time.

“My wife — my soulmate — Bernadette, was and still is, a saint,” Conradt said. “When I left for Fort Wayne in June 2011 to do a 10-week Koine Greek class, she stayed at home working as a third-grade teacher at Olga Brener (Intermediate School). We had never been separated during our marriage. Now we’d be separated 10 weeks at a time. It was rough.”

Managing the grief their separation caused, both found strength in God. Surrendering to Christ, Conradt understood his success was not accomplished by his own strength.

“We hit a point that we both knew we got divine help with this, now let’s finish the task,” Conradt said. “We got through it by the grace of God.”

Conradt served at both St. John Church-Hermansfort and St. Paul-Stony Hill, officially retiring from pastoral duties on June 29, 2025. Currently, Conradt occasionally fills in around other Lutheran churches, Missouri Synod.

Much like Sorlie, Conradt sees similarities in both law enforcement and pastoral care.

“You are always dealing with hurting people. You have to have compassion in both jobs. As pastor, you have to be ready and able to share the love of Jesus Christ in very trying times,” Conradt said. “It’s not about me. The Bible verse I cling to is ‘Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust and will not be afraid, for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation.’ Isaiah 12:2.”