A member of the first football team (1938) at then Youngstown College, Cy Warden earned four letters for the Penguins under Dwight "Dike" Beede, and helped the PenÂguins to a combined 22-11-2 overÂall mark during their first four seaÂsons of intercollegiate action.
Born in Coatesville, Pa., he moved to Girard, Ohio, in 1918 and attended the Girard schools where he excelled scholastically in footÂball, track and field and swimming.
He graduated in 1936 and received a football scholarship to Colgate University, but left before school commenced.
He then transferred to Wittenberg University and opted to return to Youngstown due to a lack of monetary assistance. After speaking to Head Coach Dike Beede, he was most impressed with the encouragement that he received and decided to give football a try, a decision both Beede and Warden never regretted.
Nicknamed "Sibby," he earned four letters from 1938-41 as Youngstown College established a grid program that would soon make opponents stand up and take notice. With his help over the next four years, the Penguins would post back-to-back4-5-0 seasons his first two years, then the fruits of everyone's labor were realized when as a junior, the team posted a 7-1-1 mark in nine outings, following that up a year later (his final season of play) with the team's first ever unbeaten mark, 7-0-1 in eight scheduled outings.
He earned his BSE in Sociology degree in 1942, and during his time in college, participated in Primary and Secondary (C.P.T.) Civilian Pilot Training.
Upon graduation, he enlisted in the United States Navy Air, receiving his wings at Corpus Christi Naval Air Station in 1943. Assigned to V.P.B.74 Bahia, Brazil and all of the East Coast, he spent two and a half years in the Pacific Theatre, retiring in 1946 with a rank of Lieutenant, Senior Grade.
He returned to Youngstown after his discharge from the Navy, and in 1946 took a teaching and coaching position at Poland Seminary High School. He remained there for two years, then in 1948, went into private business in Cleveland and Mansfield, returning to Youngstown in 1957 when he joined the Dollar Bank and remaining with that banking firm until his retirement in 1985.
His many organizations include Past President of the Girard Rotary Club, member of the Downtown Lions Club, Aut-Mori Grotto, X Koran Shrine of Cleveland and Youngstown Shrine Club among others.
He and his wife Sara Jane, are the parents of a daughter, Sue Ann Greenslade of Girard, and a stepson, Fred A. Schaffer of Plainfield, Ill.
