David Lemanowicz: Hockey, Military Career, Jill Wagner, and Family Life
David Lemanowicz is a former professional hockey goalie, U.S. Army Reserve officer, and the husband of actress Jill Wagner. Before family life in Tennessee, he spent years in competitive hockey, was drafted by the Florida Panthers, and later moved into military service. His story is unusual because it connects sports, public service, marriage, and a quieter life far from Hollywood.
In this article, you’ll learn how his hockey career took shape, why military service became such a big part of his life, how he and Wagner found each other again after many years apart, and what their family life looks like today. You’ll also see why his background matters to Wagner’s work on Lioness. Let’s start with the career that first put his name on the map.
From Spokane Goalie to NHL Draft Pick
Long before most people knew him as Jill Wagner’s husband, David Lemanowicz was focused on hockey.
He played goal for the Spokane Chiefs in the Western Hockey League during the 1990s. The 1995-96 season became one of the strongest years of his junior career. He played 62 games and finished with 42 wins.
The Florida Panthers selected him in the ninth round of the 1995 NHL Entry Draft with the 218th overall pick.
He never became a regular NHL player, but the draft still marked an important step. It showed that his work in junior hockey had reached a level that NHL scouts noticed.
His playing career continued through several minor leagues. The official NHL player page lists stops with teams such as the Carolina Monarchs, New Haven Beast, Tallahassee Tiger Sharks, Austin Ice Bats, Mississippi RiverKings, Laredo Bucks, Elmira Jackals, and Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees.
That long list matters. Hockey was not a short phase in his life. He spent years trying to build a career in the sport, moving from team to team and playing in several leagues across North America.
Hockey Was Only One Part of the Plan
Even while he was playing, David Lemanowicz had another goal in mind.
In a 2009 interview with The Spokesman-Review, he said he had long been interested in government service. His parents had come to Canada from Poland, and he spoke about growing up with a strong sense of how important stable public institutions could be.
That interest stayed with him through hockey.
After stepping away from the pro game for a time, he studied at the University of Toronto. The same 2009 report said he earned a degree in international relations there. He later continued his education in the United States and worked toward a master’s degree in global security studies.
That makes his move into military service easier to understand. It was not a random second career. Public service had been on his mind for years.
Military Service Became His Next Major Chapter
After hockey, David Lemanowicz moved into the U.S. Army Reserve.
The Spokesman-Review reported in 2009 that he was preparing to be commissioned as a lieutenant. More recent coverage from People identifies him as an Army major.
That part of his life later became important for reasons that had nothing to do with rank or career plans.
Military service helped bring him back into Jill Wagner’s life after the two had not seen each other for many years.
It also gave Wagner a close connection to military life as an adult. She grew up in a military family, and her father served in the U.S. Marines. Years later, her husband’s experience gave that world another personal link inside her own home.
Their Story Started When They Were Teenagers
The relationship between David Lemanowicz and Jill Wagner began long before their 2017 wedding.
They first met in North Carolina when Wagner was still a teenager. He was a young hockey player at the time.
They dated briefly, but the relationship ended and their lives went in different directions. For many years, that seemed to be the end of the story.
Then came an unexpected reunion.
A Chance Meeting in Afghanistan Changed Everything
In 2015, Wagner traveled to Afghanistan on a USO trip. Lemanowicz was there through his military service.
According to People, he saw Wagner’s name connected to the visit and wondered if she was the same person he had known years earlier.
She was.
They met again, but both were in other relationships at the time, so nothing romantic happened right away.
About a year later, they crossed paths again in Los Angeles. This time, both were single. Their old connection came back, and the relationship moved forward.
People’s profile of the family covers that timeline, from their teenage connection to the Afghanistan reunion and the marriage that followed.
Marriage Brought Two Very Different Lives Together
The couple married on April 8, 2017, at Rose Hill Plantation in North Carolina.
By that point, both had already built full adult lives.
Wagner had worked for years in television and film. Her husband had spent much of his adult life in hockey and military service.
Those careers looked very different, but the couple did not try to build their marriage around Hollywood. Home and family became a much bigger part of their life together.
That choice eventually took them away from Los Angeles and toward a rural part of Tennessee.
Three Daughters and a Blended Family
David Lemanowicz and Wagner are raising three daughters in a blended family.
He has an older daughter, Lija, from a previous relationship. He and Wagner later welcomed two daughters together.
Their first daughter together, Army Gray, was born in April 2020. Their second, Daisy Roberta, arrived in August 2021.
Wagner has spoken openly about how much motherhood changed her priorities. Family life, time outdoors, and being present for the girls became more important than staying close to the center of the entertainment industry.
That shift helps explain why the family chose Tennessee.
Why Tennessee Felt Like the Right Home
The family now lives on a large rural property in Tellico Plains, Tennessee.
People reported that Wagner and her husband restored a 1912 farmhouse on about 200 acres. The project took around 18 months and gave the family a home that feels very different from Los Angeles.
The property is now part of their everyday life. The family spends time outdoors, keeps animals, gardens, hikes, and raises the children in a much quieter setting.
Wagner has described the lifestyle as her own version of Little House on the Prairie. She has also talked about homeschooling the girls and giving them space to grow up close to nature.
A People feature on the Tennessee farm gives one of the clearest recent looks at the family’s day-to-day life there.
The farm also hosts a community event that supports the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, adding another link between the family’s home life and military service.
His Military Background Also Connects to Lioness
One of the most interesting links between the couple’s careers comes through the Paramount+ series Lioness.
Wagner has said that her husband’s military background helped introduce her to the real-world idea behind the Lioness program. That knowledge stayed with her and later became part of the path that led to the television project.
His experience did not make him a Hollywood producer or actor. The link is much simpler than that. He had first-hand military knowledge, and Wagner had someone close to her who understood that world.
That made the subject more personal for her.
Why His Story Goes Beyond Being Jill Wagner’s Husband
Many people first search for David Lemanowicz because of Jill Wagner. That makes sense because she is the more visible public figure.
But his own story has plenty of depth.
He spent years chasing a professional hockey career. He was drafted by an NHL team. He later studied international relations and global security. Then he entered military service and moved into another demanding career.
His military service also became part of the story that brought him back together with Wagner.
Today, hockey is part of his past and family life is much more visible. The Tennessee farm, his daughters, and the quieter life he shares with Wagner now shape most of what the public sees.
David Lemanowicz Today
As of 2026, David Lemanowicz lives in Tennessee with Wagner and their family.
Recent coverage still describes him through the same two major parts of his career: professional hockey and military service.
He does not appear to chase celebrity attention. Most current coverage of him comes through family stories, Wagner’s interviews, his hockey record, and reports about their life in Tennessee.
That quieter public role fits the life the couple has built. Wagner still works in television and film, while the farm gives the family a home base away from the pace of Los Angeles.
A Life That Took More Than One Turn
David Lemanowicz did not follow one straight path.
Hockey took him from Canada to teams across North America. His interest in government service then led him toward the U.S. Army Reserve. Years later, that military chapter helped bring him back into Wagner’s life during a chance meeting in Afghanistan.
The couple went on to marry, build a blended family, and settle in Tennessee.
That is why one label does not explain him very well. He is a former hockey goalie, military officer, husband, father, and someone whose life changed direction more than once.
For another family story shaped by military service, read LakewoodScoop.co.uk’s profile of Fausto Xavier Aguilera, Christina Aguilera’s father and a former U.S. Army sergeant.