Natasha Torry

When Natasha Torry became a municipal court judge for the City of Sheboygan/Village of Kohler (Wisconsin) in 2015, she was the first Black woman judge outside of Milwaukee and only the third elected in the state.

In 2023, she was elected and sworn in as Sheboygan County Circuit Court Judge (Branch 2) and advocates for diversity and understanding in the justice system. It is the culmination of a lifetime of overcoming challenges based on adverse childhood experiences, racism and sexism.

As a child, Torry looked to education for her way out of her limited circumstances. She attended middle and high school at Milwaukee Public Schools and very early on knew that she wanted to pursue a career where she could help people, particularly children.

Her high school Spanish teacher, Terry Capes, Class of 1971, encouraged her to consider Ripon College. She served as vice president of the Black Student Union and had put on several well-attended Soul Food Dinners.

As a first-generation college student, she did not have a strong family support network and she faced many challenges in wider society because of race-related issues, but she felt strong support from mentors at Ripon.

When a mix-up happened in her financial aid and she was short of funds for the semester, an anonymous deposit to her bank account covered the deficit.

She had been working two jobs — for Ripon Magazine and the local Kmart — but still had no way to make up the shortfall. “That was incredible,” she says. “Where else would that have happened? I absolutely felt cared for and people wanted me to succeed.

“I loved the small class sizes at Ripon, the personal relationship with your professors and staff.”

After talking to her about her interests and goals, then Professor of Chemistry Dean Katahira signed her up for the Introduction to Law class. She found that politics and government proved easy and understandable to her and she switched her major.

Torry says she has worked in some really rough, hostile environments where people openly used racist terms, and she uses those experiences and her own challenging background to temper her approach on the bench.

She says there is a lack of basic understanding of the court system and processes among litigants, and she wants to educate people about their rights and responsibilities, determine how people ended up in court and how they can improve their situations.

Torry also works in the community for the Boys and Girls Club of Sheboygan County and John Michael Kohler Arts Center board of directors. She previously served on the State Bar of Wisconsin Family Law Section Board and the Local Bar Relations Committee.

In 2021, she was inducted as a Fellow of the Wisconsin Law Foundation, a distinction shared by only 2.5% of attorneys in Wisconsin; and in 2021, she was awarded the Women of Influence Award from New North Region, Insight on Business for her solo law practice.

“You don’t have to be perfect to make an impact — you just have to keep going,” Torry says. “I’m so amazed at how life can turn out. Ripon has absolutely been one of the most impactful experiences of my whole life. I can’t think of what I would have been if I hadn’t been there because I was able to be there and get through it. I love what I do now. There was more in store for me. I just had to get there.”