{"id":75,"date":"2020-06-26T21:43:27","date_gmt":"2020-06-26T21:43:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rememberingthor.com\/?page_id=75"},"modified":"2024-06-30T07:27:46","modified_gmt":"2024-06-30T07:27:46","slug":"about-thors-life","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/rememberingthor.com\/?page_id=75","title":{"rendered":"About Thor’s Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On Being Human<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thor was the kindest, most giving person you could imagine meeting in this modern age.  He was always looking for ways to help others, and never expected anything in return.  He just valued people, and kindness, and spreading good energy in the world.  He thought it was so easy and made such a big difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He drove an hour each way to loan someone a sleeping bag so they wouldn\u2019t have to buy one.  He always donated his cash on hand, and carried snacks for those asking for help in the street.  He always bought girl scout cookies [not such a big sacrifice, I know!] He donated blood regularly [who does that?], and mentored elementary school students on the south side.  He donated to as many fundraisers as he came across.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thor loved physical activity.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He did yoga; he was certified ski patrol and volunteered his time to hang out on the slopes.  He trained in Aikido, Jujitsu and Tang So Doo.  He competed in triathlons, and guided blind athletes so they could complete as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thor loved the outdoors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thor escaped regularly for weekends in Wisconsin and Michigan, just to breathe different air, to be around different energy, to be without traffic or sirens or people for a minute.   Thor skied Austria and Colorado, hiked everywhere he went, and once pretended to be Australian in the Everglades.  [His accent was spot on.  Those retiree New Yorkers were believers!]  Thor trained with Tom Brown in New Jersey and Florida – 7+ days without a phone or a shower, and he was happy as can be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thor loved people.  And he believed the best about them, always, until proven otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Policing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
At the St. Jude parade<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Officer Thor O. Soderberg joined the Chicago Police force 1999.  He dove into his time in the Academy.  He still had every notebook, every spiral binder and even the famous navy blue sweats when he was killed in the line of duty on July 7, 2010<\/span><\/a>.  By that time, he was an instructor at the Academy, assigned to one week on the streets during a summer mobile operation.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officer Soderberg believed that policing could make the world a better, safer and kinder, place.  Although he would never hesitate to use his big voice to become an imposing force, the \u201cserve\u201d was his favorite part of policing, and he worked hard to make it part of what he did every day.  He spend most nights on the couch researching ways to enhance his police work \u2013 new techniques to diffuse conflict by body language or body positioning, new books on proactive or community policing, websites on how to distinguish between a drunk and someone in diabetic shock (these are frighteningly similar), new equipment that was lighter or safer.  As an instructor at the academy, this increased triplefold, as he tried to find ways for his students to speed up their cuffing technique, to increase the safety of their vehicle approach, to manage vehicle stops on foot or from a bicycle.  He saw policing as an art and science that required constant improvement, and he saw himself as an officer always in evolution towards being safer, smarter, faster, and more understanding of the general public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He took extra trail mix to share with colleagues.  He made extra sandwiches to share with a homeless man downtown several times a week.  He took extra gloves to those living on lower Wacker each winter.  He built his own tool to capture dogs in Dan Ryan Woods so he could take them to the shelter on brutally cold winter days.   The day before he died, he gave the shoe shine man at the police station $20, just to make sure he had enough money for food that day.  He was wearing tennis shoes.  Each act small, but kind, honored the humanity of someone we might often look past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the winter of 2004, he was called to the Target at 85th<\/sup> and Cottage because a boy had tried to steal a belt.  Office Soderberg arrived at the manager\u2019s office to find a dejected 12 year old boy looking at the floor.  His tears had dried, but he didn\u2019t look up when Officer Soderberg asked him why he stole the belt.  \u201cI needed to keep my pants up,\u201d he said, pulling a frayed length of rope from his pocket.  \u201cMy rope broke and I didn\u2019t have a way to keep my pants up.\u201d  He stood upon request, and it was clear his pants were many sizes too big for him and deeply dirty from daily use.  He cried when he said he was sorry but he didn\u2019t know what else to do.  As an officer, Thor always said you have to try and know someone\u2019s true heart.  Thor believed him, so he talked the manager out of filing charges and bought the belt.  He gave the boy every snack in his car, and drove him around until he was able to recognize the back of the house where his mom had rented a room.  The boy wasn\u2019t allowed to use the front door, and hadn\u2019t seen his mom in a few days.  Officer Soderberg never forgot that boy; this contact card was on his nightstand when he died more than 6 years later.   And although he couldn\u2019t fix everything for that boy, hopefully he made that one day better than it might have been.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So each year his widow, Jennifer, asks us to bring that spirit of service alive<\/strong> again by Paying It Forward<\/span><\/a>.  Please consider committing a random act of kindness in his memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because he should never be forgotten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the words of Marco Torres, CPD detective<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being a Chicago police officer, you will be challenged. You will be tested physically, emotionally, spiritually. Because of Officer Soderberg these tests were more manageable. He would always say don’t become complacent on this job, go to every call with fresh eyes. He would also say he noticed that officers were hesitant to go hands on when necessary; he made sure we didn’t hesitate. When we made mistakes as a class, he stayed after hours to fix what we did wrong so it didn’t happen again. To the new officers: I challenge you to push yourself, read, learn, build relationships with coworkers, friends, and the people you interact with on the street. Having a learning mentality will keep you young minded and it will make time fly by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the time that we spent with him, we knew him to care about us individually and collectively. He would speak to each of us on a personal level and push us when we were struggling. I’ve thought about him and Thomas Wortham everyday before I would work the streets. I was thankful to have learned from both of them. When we lost him it broke a lot people’s hearts, including mine. It didn’t seem real. He was just here right there, in front of the academy, working in uniform, in a squad car the day before. It was devastating. Speaking to new officers in a way that he spoke to me makes me feel like he’s still around. If he was here today I would thank him, I would hug him and tell him I love him. Officer Soderberg we miss you but what you taught us will be with us forever.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Being Human Thor was the kindest, most giving person you could imagine meeting in this modern age.  He was always looking for ways to help others, and never expected anything in return.  He just valued people, and kindness, and spreading good energy in the world.  He thought it was so easy and made such … <\/p>\n

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