Officers

President
Lori Nerheim
Lori spent her formative years growing up in Waukegan and has lived in Lake County nearly her entire life. She is a graduate of Lake Forest College with a degree in Art History. After retiring as an owner of a global consulting firm, she returned to give back to the community by co-founding the Waukegan Arts Council, which serves as the umbrella arts and cultural organization for Waukegan. Lori served on the executive leadership team for 7 years, including as Chair. In 2016, Lori was honored with the Jack Benny Arts & Humanities Award by the Waukegan Park District. She co-chaired the Ray Bradbury Statue Committee which commemorated Bradbury's legacy with a monumental sculpture on the grounds of the Library. Lori has a strong connection to Waukegan and an interest in the history that helped to shape it.

Vice President
Chris Lanning
Chris is a lifelong resident of Waukegan. Chris and his partner currently own one of Waukegan’s most recognized historical landmarked homes on Sheridan Road. Chris has been active in the community for many years and hopes to continue for many more years. Chris spent eighteen years volunteering for a nonprofit 501(c)(3) and brings some of that experience to the society. He finds history to be a critical part of everyday life and something that should be remembered for years to come.

Treasurer
Dane Morgan
Dane grew up Waukegan. After graduating from Waukegan West High School, Dane pursued higher education at Bradley University and upon graduating with degrees in finance and accounting returned to Waukegan to begin his career. He has been a banker in the community for over 25-years and is currently the President of the Waukegan & Gurnee Community Banks (Wintrust Community Banks). Dane enjoys working in the community as it affords the ability to see firsthand the impact his work has on the business and community he supports. He is married to his Waukegan West High School sweetheart, and they have two children.

Secretary
Julio C. Argueta
Julio is an Attorney/Partner with the law firm of Soffietti, Johnson, Teegen, Argueta, Bawcum & Barone since 2003. The firm opened offices in Waukegan in 2006. Prior to working with the law firm, Julio also worked for the Lake County State's Attorney's Office. Julio was originally born and raised in Cook County. But after working for more than 20 years in the Waukegan area, Julio considers Waukegan "home." He has been actively involved in the community and has served on the Board of Directors for A Safe Place and is an Advisory Board Member for the Lawyer's Assistance Program. Julio joined the Board for the Waukegan Historical Society because he saw this as an opportunity to promote the future for this city with such a fascinating past.

Immediate Past President
Josh Bill
Josh fell in love with Waukegan when he moved here in 2004. He has a particular flair for the industrial, immigration and ethnic histories of this community. As a U.S. history teacher at Waukegan High School, many of his students use the Raymond Research Library throughout the year to work on their Chicago Metro History Fair Projects. Over the last ten years, six groups of students have taken their projects to complete in the National History Day competition in Washington, D.C. He is happy to serve the Waukegan Historical Society that has helped with this process.

Directors

Monica Burmeister
Monica has always lived in the Chicago area, growing up in the south suburbs and then moving to Lake County in the 1970’s. She has a master’s degree in actuarial science from the University of Nebraska. Monica worked at Hewitt Associates in Lincolnshire for over 30 years, originally as an actuarial consultant helping clients design and fund pension plans. Later in her career, she held various management positions, including Global Chief of Operations for the Hewitt Consulting business. She retired in 2008 and has spent time volunteering with various nonprofit organizations. In particular, she has served on the Board of United Way of Lake County for 13 years and chaired their Finance Committee. Monica enjoys getting involved in projects with organizations that are growing and going through interesting transitions, and looks forward to finding ways to support the Waukegan Historical Society.

Harry Came
Harry has been a resident of Waukegan for over 30 years and has loved five old houses in the North Historic District. After many years of getting up at 4:00 a.m. and the last fifteen years in a family manufacturing business, he also ran an antique shop on Grand Avenue. He loves antiques, old houses and his friends at the Waukegan Historical Society.

Dr. Karen Carlson
Karen grew up on Chicago’s northside and raised her family in Evanston. She moved to Waukegan in 2004 to serve as Associate Superintendent for Specialized Services in District 60. She retired as a School Superintendent in 2010 and subsequently led the Educational Leadership department at Dominican University until 2017, supporting and coaching school leaders in the greater Chicago area. She has also taught aspiring teachers at Lake Forest College. Karen holds a Ph.D. in Education and Social Policy from Northwestern University. A lifelong educator, Karen got involved with United Way of Lake County in 2004, volunteering on the steering committee of the Success By 6 initiative. She currently serves on the Community Impact Council of United Way which gave $1.2 million to those in need during the pandemic and supports early literacy initiatives in Lake County. Karen is a Fellow of Leadership Greater Chicago and serves on the Fellows Leadership Board. She and her husband Don lived in Europe for 15 months recently, searching archives in 13 countries for traces of her family's Holocaust history. She is writing a book about that journey. Karen is thrilled to support the Waukegan Historical Society and the new Waukegan History Museum at the Carnegie.

Patrick Cosgrove
Pat grew up on the southwest side of Chicago, went to Loyola University of Chicago as an undergraduate, and completed his graduate studies at Rice University in Texas as well as Northeastern Illinois University. He taught high school at St. Gregory’s on the north side of Chicago, and William Fremd High School in Palatine before coming to Waukegan High School in 1993. Pat sings with the First Presbyterian Church’s Westminster Choir. His favorite hobby bicycling, having biked from Maine, Richmond VA (numerous times), biked back from Portland OR and Stanford CT; he has also biked the Florida Keys and Ireland.

Diana Dretske
Diana’s family roots in Waukegan date to 1920 when the Dretske brothers came to work in the city’s industries. Her maternal grandfather, George Teeling, served for many years as Waukegan’s superintendent of streets. Diana is a curator and Lake County historian at the Bess Bower Dunn Museum in Libertyville. She has published several local history books, including her latest book, The Bonds of War, exploring Lake County’s role in the Civil War. She is pleased to be on the Waukegan Historical Society board and have this opportunity to promote Waukegan’s history.

Vicki Mattson
Vicki was raised in Waukegan from the age of five, growing up on the north side and still living in the same general area today. She says, “Waukegan is my home and it is where I attended school, scooped the loop, married and stayed to raise my family.” She has retired from the school transportation industry, which allows her more time to study history and genealogy. She is currently serving as the President of the Illinois State Genealogical Society and Past President of the Zion Genealogy Society. She enjoys serving on the Waukegan Historical Society board, volunteering as a docent for the museum as well as the Society’s Cemetery Walk and the Tour of Homes.