Jill Wagner Bowers was a 13-year student of the Danville Community School system, graduating in 1970 and attending Drake University where she earned a BA in English, followed by a Master's Degree in Reading and Administration at the University of Iowa. She then spent 32 years in education - nine teaching junior high and 23 years in administration.

In 1994, Jill was chosen to be the founding principal at Greenfield Junior High in Gilbert, AZ, and three years later was named East Valley Tribune Educator of the Year. In 2002, she was honored with the Arizona Administrator of the Year award.

Jill underwent kidney transplant surgery in 1997, receiving a kidney donated by her husband - George - and a second donation in 2012 from a former student, Katie Moorhead. To support and encourage organ donation, Jill has participated in Transplant Games of America, an Olympic-style event, for the past 25 years.

As a final commitment to the people of Danville, Jill and George chose to donate 40 acres of farmland from her parents' estate to the community to be used for the Holly & Katie Wagner Memorial Park. The land sits behind her former childhood home on East Roosevelt Street and honors not only Jill and her parents, but her brother and sister, Mark and Pam, as well.