Town Chair
Mary Knipper
Phone: (262) 206-1728
Email: [email protected]
Committees:
Fire & Rescue, Lake, Plan, Public Works, Emergency Government Management Team, and ETZ (Extra Territorial Zoning).
Mary moved from Massachusetts to Illinois in 1965 and was a registered nurse in Massachusetts and Illinois. Pursued her passion for the environment by using her science background, accepting a position as a Chemical and Microbiology Laboratory analyst for National Environmental Testing Inc. in Illinois for 15 years and in that role, became the Project Manager for the Illinois Superfund Hazardous Waste Program. She then served 9 years as a consulting Senior Clinical Research Associate with Abbott Laboratories in the HIV/AIDS drug development program.
Mary has served as Past President, co-founder of the Walworth County Lakes Association; past-President of Wisconsin Lakes, the 3rd arm of the Wisconsin Lakes Partnership; in 2019, she was appointed by Governor Evers to Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, SEWRPC. representing Walworth County.
John and Mary have owned their home on Delavan Lake since 1974, and moved to Wisconsin permanently in 1998. She was appointed to the Town Board in 2020, and elected for a 2 year term in 2021.
Mary believes that the Town has strong and experienced leadership in each department, and her goal is to support their combined efforts to grow and build a safe, responsive and inclusive community for residents, visitors and existing and new business opportunities.
Town Supervisor
Bill Thummel
Phone: (262) 325-5064
Email: [email protected]
Committees:
Administrative, Finance, Fire & Rescue, and Emergency Government Management.
After earning an undergraduate degree in Biology in his home state of Texas, Bill served as an Officer in the U.S. Army for five years. After service duty, Bill obtained a graduate degree in Finance and Operations before becoming Plant Manager for a petrochemical company in upstate New York. Following this, Bill worked at commercial real estate company, JLL, for 30 years, at various times serving as Chief Operating Office for the Americas, Chief Executive Officer of Latin/South America, and primary client contact for Bank of America, HSBC, P&G, and Intel. Bill retired in 2017.
Bill is passionate about continuing to improve the health and safety of the citizens of the Town of Delavan as well as further improving the health of our Delavan Lake. Currently, Bill is the President of the Delavan Lake Improvement Association, Secretary/Treasurer of the Delavan Friends of the Park, and Chief Client Officer for Whitney Technologies Inc. Bill and his partner, Mary, have resided in the Town since 2008.
Town Supervisor
Micah Hartlaub
Phone: (262) 475-9848
Email: [email protected]
Committees:
Park & Tourism, Police & Water Safety, and Public Works.
Micah is a crop farmer and small business owner. He is quoted saying, "Everyone complains about the local government but few people do anything about it". He decided to be a Town Supervisor so he could be a part of the changes.
Town Supervisor
Ben Nixdorf
Phone: (773) 301-6296
Email: [email protected]
Committees:
Finance, Lake, and Police & Water Safety.
After earning a double major in Finance and Risk Management at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Ben worked on CME and CBOE trading floors trading options for a large private company named CTC. Ben quickly became head of floor operations up until 2020 where he transitioned to a newly made role of Head of Equity Order Desk where he works with customer orders directly from the banks. Ben grew up in Eau Claire and has been on Lake Delavan with his wife, Chrissy, and two kids for the past 10 years. Three years ago, he moved his family here full time.
Ben is an avid outdoor enthusiast and you can usually find him spending time on our lake or in the surrounding woods. Ben’s background and unbiased stance enables him to continue to make the Town of Delavan a better place for everyone to live and visit, yet be very meticulous to the details and bottom line. He currently serves on the board of the Delavan Lake Improvement Association and the Delavan Lake Yacht Club.
Town Supervisor
Chris Wasik
Phone: (815) 993-7229
Email: [email protected]
Committees:
Administrative, Park & Tourism, and Plan.
After enjoying Delavan for years as a visitor, Chris and her husband, Rich, moved to Rockford Colony upon retirement six years ago with their son, Barry, a couple Jack Russell's, and an old orange cat. Chris looks forward to keeping Delavan a place that draws visitors as well as preserving and improving the area for year round residents. Chris' background is in Early Childhood Education and Communication.
She worked the past 18 years for the Illinois State Board of Education in Special Education to support school districts across the state to increase opportunities for students with disabilities to be educated in their home schools with supports and services. During her years with the State Board of Education she received additional training in Cognitive Coaching and Adaptive Schools Training.
Chris also provided parent/school/community training around disability rights and inclusive education through Family Matters Parent Training and Information Center throughout Illinois. Chris enjoys fishing, boating, gardening and having a supportive group of friends. Her oldest son Brett, resides in Milwaukee as an internal medicine specialty veterinarian. She looks forward to seeing this Town Board work collaboratively with the community and welcoming each person into the process.