Dr. Lilya Wagner and her husband John have been supporters and mentors of LifeNets since 1999.  Lilya Wagner was Associate Director Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy in Indianapolis, IN.  She has also worked for a global development organization in Washington D.C. where she and her husband live.  Her husband John has been President of Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska.  

Lilya was born in Estonia. She has written a several books focusing on Philanthropy.  Her first book To Linger is to Die is about her parents escape from Soviet-occupied Estonia near the end of World War II.   We talk about this story in our podcast.  

This book is out of print, but she will happily email you a PDF of it.  Please request it at [email protected]

You can see slides of Estonia that go along with this book including map of the escape route at https://youtu.be/g9xg8pG2Zy0

Here is a map their escape route from Estonia to Germany. of