Officers

President
Lori Nerheim
Lori is the Vice President of Marketing and Communications for United Way of Lake County. She 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. 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
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.

Treasurer
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.

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.

Directors

Aaron Arnold
Aaron serves as the Executive Director at Waukegan to College. From working directly with adolescents to building organizations that develop leaders who serve young people, Aaron has diverse experience in the nonprofit sector in the United States and more than 50 countries globally. Living and working in Latin America for more than a decade, Aaron is bilingual and possesses a high level of cross-cultural experience. Aaron received a Master of Arts from Huntington University in Youth Leadership and is currently working on his Ph.D. in Leadership Studies at Gonzaga University. In his free time, he loves to cook the food he learned to love from his travels as well as enjoy good coffee and craft beer. He lives in Waukegan with his wife and their youngest daughter. 

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 serves on United Way of Lake County’s Community Impact Council which supports early education 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.

Susan L. Kelsey
Susan is a filmmaker and author with a passion for storytelling that bridges history and humanity.  Susan founded the Waukegan Little Fort Environmental Film Festival to inspire community environmentalism.  A native of the Midwest, Susan draws inspiration from her surroundings, weaving regional authenticity into her creative pursuits. Beyond her creative work, she is a mentor to aspiring filmmakers and writers, fostering a new generation of creatives in the Waukegan Parks & Recreation. Susan is past president of the Gichigamiin Indigenous Nations Museum. 

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 is 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.

Maggie Morales
Maggie grew up in one of Waukegan’s historic homes on North Avenue and returned to the area with her husband to raise their young family. A graduate of Waukegan High School, Maggie attended Butler University as an undergraduate and holds a masters of Social Justice in Intercultural Relations from SIT Graduate Institute in Vermont. Maggie’s career spans the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. She is currently the Executive Director for The Lake County Community Foundation. In addition, she co-chairs the Live Well Lake County Network and the Lake County Funders’ Collaborative. She has a passion for serving others and is grateful for the opportunity to support the community that shaped her through her service to the Waukegan Historical Society.

Hon. Ted Potkonjak (ret)
Ted grew up in Waukegan and graduated from Waukegan Township High School. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in History and Political Science from MacMurray College in Jacksonville, IL, and a law degree from California Western School of Law in San Diego, CA. Ted served as an Assistant State's Attorney in the Lake County State's Attorney's Office for five years and then worked in private practice in Waukegan for 15 years. In 2002, he was appointed to serve as an Associate Judge in Lake County and retired in October 2024. He has reopened his law office as a sole practice in Waukegan post retirement. Ted served on the Waukegan Unit School District #60  School Board from 1988-1994. He and his wife Diana (Kocal), a Waukegan West High School graduate, have three grown children. Ted looks forward to contirbuting his knowledge of the community and learning even more about the area's rich history.