In memoriam

We said goodbye to several notable Lake County residents in 2018. They left indelible marks on their communities through impressive accomplishments and dedicated public service.

The list includes a few local officials, religious and business leaders and a couple of military veterans.

Gary Del Re

Former Lake County Sheriff Gary Del Re was regarded as a great cop, a law enforcement innovator, and a loving father and grandfather.

Del Re, 69, died the weekend of Oct. 26-27.

"He simply loved being a cop," his son, David Del Re said in a written statement.

Gary Del Re worked at the Buffalo Grove Police Department for 25 years before being appointed Lake County undersheriff in 1994 by former Sheriff Clinton Grinnell. He took over the sheriff's office in 1996 when Grinnell retired. Del Re won election in 1998 and 2002 before losing to current Sheriff Mark Curran in 2006.

Del Re's crowning achievement was serving as co-founder and first commander of the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force in 1992. The specialized unit is composed of members of various Lake County law enforcement agencies and responds to a mutual need for investigative resources and expertise.

John T. Phillips

Friends describe former Lake County Judge John T. Phillips as a wonderful friend and brilliant jurist with a compassionate heart. Phillips, 70, of Antioch, died Jan. 6.

Phillips served in the Air Force and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel before entering private law practice and becoming a partner at Churchill, Baumgartner and Phillips, Ltd. in Grayslake.

He was appointed associate judge in 1993, then elected circuit judge in 2006. He was elected chief judge by his peers in 2014, before retiring last January.

Phillips served in every division of the circuit court, officials said, but he was best known for helping to form and preside over the specialized Lake County treatment courts from 2005 until 2014. Those courts include Lake County drug court, mental health court and veterans court.

"Every person he knew is a better person because of having known him," Lake County State's Attorney Michael Nerheim said.

Thomas Leahy

At 6 feet, 6 inches, Thomas Leahy was a commanding presence, but his impact in the Vernon Hills area had more to do with his personality and involvement in the community than his height.

Leahy, who died May 21, was vice chairman of the board for American Hotel Register Co., a 153-year-old family business he helped guide from a local printer to a powerhouse international distribution company and integral part of the community. The Mettawa resident was 73.

American Hotel Register, the largest national distributor of hospitality products, is known for its colorful array of international flags at its headquarters on Route 21.

Leahy was easily identifiable at the events he supported or spearheaded, including the annual Pipe City Lacrosse Festival, the largest in the Midwest, which is held on company grounds.

He served as Grand Marshal of the village's 2015 Fourth of July parade.

Joe Triolo

The living history of Pearl Harbor survivors in northern Illinois ended Jan. 11 with the death of 97-year-old Zion resident and Navy veteran Joe Triolo.

Triolo spoke to recruits at the Great Lakes Naval Station and was a regular at suburban Pearl Harbor observances. Triolo served 21 years in the Navy and retired as a chief boatswain's mate. He was aboard the USS Tangier in Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked on Dec. 7, 1941, bringing the U.S. into World War II.

The Tangier was a seaplane tender and wasn't targeted by the Japanese. It was 8 a.m. when "all hell broke loose," Triolo once recalled. The crew had become accustomed to alarms and had to be told it was not a drill.

Triolo said he watched as the battleship USS Utah was bombed and sunk. He was firing a .50-caliber machine gun at attacking planes.

Triolo's mission was to keep the memory alive, especially for young people, said Eric "Rick" Miller, who co-founded Northern Illinois Survivors after the death of his father, also a Pearl Harbor survivor.

"Real humble. He was always stressing we've got to keep teaching the youngsters," Miller said of Triolo.

Francis E. Normoyle

Lake County has lost a humble hero with the death June 16 of Gurnee resident Francis E. Normoyle.

Those close to him eventually would learn the truth about his heroism as a Navy corpsman in Korea. But Normoyle preferred to be quiet about the past, and when asked would say he was doing his job.

Normoyle, 89, was employed 42 years by OMC/Johnson Motors in Waukegan, retiring as a customer service manager.

A Seattle native, Normoyle, served as a Navy hospital corpsman from 1948 to 1952. In September 1950, he was attached to the Marines and sent to Korea.

During a battle for Seoul, Normoyle, under heavy fire, removed two of three Marines from an unprotected position. While going for the third, a bullet ricocheted and hit Normoyle in the face.

Despite bleeding profusely, he reached the third man and pulled him 60 yards to safety. He was awarded the Silver Star.

After recuperating for two months, Normoyle was sent back. In March 1951, he braved an intense barrage of mortar, automatic weapon and small-arms fire to aid six wounded Marines. Aware another wounded man was 100 yards up a steep slope, Normoyle crawled through sniper fire to assist and get him to safety. He was awarded a Bronze Star with a Combat "V" for valor.

No one knew about the medals until Normoyle's wife, Marie, found them in a box in a closet, said former Lindenhurst Mayor Paul Baumunk.

"Frank never thought of himself as a hero. He was an unselfish man who just did his job," Baumunk said.

Dorthy "Dottie" Watson

The curator and president of Mundelein's Fort Hill Heritage Museum, Dorthy "Dottie" Watson was a fixture at the village's annual Independence Day gathering there. She could be seen each year in a colonial-style, red, white and blue dress.

The longtime Mundelein resident, who died Aug. 30, was remembered for her love of history and her patriotic spirit. She was 85.

"Each year she had a Navy band, several speakers and then a picnic with fried chicken," Mundelein Mayor Steve Lentz said. "It seemed like an event from 100 years ago."

It was Watson's stewardship of the Fort Hill Heritage Museum for which she was best known in Mundelein.

Watson and her late husband, Leland T. "Trig" Watson Jr., joined the volunteer group that runs the museum, called the Historical Society of the Fort Hill Country, not long after moving to Mundelein in the 1960s. She became the museum's curator in 1987.

Rev. Harold Krueger

The Rev. Harold Krueger, the pastor of St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Hawthorn Woods for 48 years, oversaw its transition from a country outpost to a thriving suburban congregation. Krueger, 91, died Jan. 6.

During 64 years, he served three congregations in three states, but most time was spent as pastor of St. Matthew from late 1952 until 2000.

When he arrived from Kinde, Michigan, two years out of the seminary, Old McHenry Road was a quiet country back road where farmers herded cattle and congregation members walked or rode horseback to services, according to a church literature.

Krueger and his wife, Ruth, went door to door adding 100 people to the small congregation. A vigorous outreach continued and the ranks swelled.

Services and buildings were added, including a new parsonage, and, on its 100th anniversary in 1963, a new school was approved by the congregation.

The new church was dedicated in the late 1990s with nearly 1,700 members.

"He was instrumental through those years in the continual program changes and building changes," said former parishioner Bill Deets, who knew Krueger for 60 years.

Dawn Miller

Dawn Miller was a dedicated public servant who had a passion for education.

Miller, who died May 18, served on the Diamond Lake District 76 board from 1973 to 1984 and then on the Mundelein High School board from 1984 to 1992. She was 76.

During Mundelein High's commencement exercises, Miller would hand each new graduate a $1 bill, saying it was the first money they would earn as high school graduates.

Students affectionately turned the tradition around in subsequent years.

"Students gave something to Dawn as she shook their hands at graduation," recalled Mundelein High spokesman Ron Girard. "One year it was pennies. Another it was jelly beans."

Miller was proud of Mundelein High's accomplishments during her board tenure, Girard said, particularly an award-winning aviation program that saw students build working airplanes. The program, the only one of its kind in the U.S., ran from 1980 to 2003.

She also served as vice president of the Illinois Association of School Boards from 1990 to 1992. She held other positions with the association for the next 21 years and served on national education-related commissions.

Philip Carrigan

Philip Carrigan was a former College of Lake County board member, longtime activist and Lake County community leader.

Carrigan, 73, of Waukegan died Jan. 28. He had resigned from the CLC board in September after being elected to a 6-year term in April 2013. He previously served on the board from 2005 to 2011.

CLC board Chairman Richard A. Anderson called Carrigan a tireless advocate for community college education and other causes such early childhood education, transitional housing and food pantries.

"He earned the deepest respect and admiration of his colleagues on the board of trustees, as well as CLC faculty, staff and students," Anderson said.

Carrigan retired from Abbott Laboratories in Lake County in 2004 after more than 30 years, primarily in the area of pharmaceutical research and development.

Terry Stevig

Terry Stevig served on the Wauconda Area Library Board for 36 years and was believed to be the longest serving trustee in the library's history.

Stevig, who died April 14, also spent more than 34 years as a teacher and guidance counselor at Wauconda High School. He also coached boys and girls soccer and tennis there. He was 71.

"He liked to help people," said Stevig's widow, Ruth. "And he loved kids."

Stevig, of Wauconda, helped oversee the construction of a library building on Main Street in 1987, a significant expansion and remodeling of the facility in 1997, another extensive remodeling in 2015 and continued growth of library services, among other projects.

Stevig was "instrumental" in launching soccer as a varsity sport at Wauconda High in the 1980s, Wauconda Unit District 118 Superintendent Dan Coles said.

Jim Nutschnig

Former Mundelein Trustee Jim Nutschnig was remembered as a kind man and a thoughtful public servant.

Nutschnig, 72, who served on the village board for 22 years, died Sept. 8 at his house in Wisconsin.

Nutschnig was in the U.S. Navy and served in the Vietnam War. He later worked at Motorola.

He led Cub Scout and Girl Scout groups and was a Little League Baseball coach.

Nutschnig was a member of Mundelein's plan commission and was elected to the village board in 1991. He served until 2013, becoming the senior member of the panel during his tenure.

Trustee Ray Semple served with Nutschnig for many years and recalled Nutschnig's big smile, likable personality and ability to mediate issues.

"He always had the best interests of the village of Mundelein in his many votes," Semple said. "He was a good man."