SASKATOON — The City of Warman will host six direct descendants of its namesake, Cy Warman, on Friday, May 29, for a historic family reunion and civic commemoration celebrating the community’s railway roots and heritage.
Mayor Gary Philipchuk is scheduled to proclaim the date as Cy Warman Heritage Day during a formal ceremony at Warman City Hall, marking what city officials describe as a significant moment in the community’s history.
The visiting relatives, travelling from the United States, include Christine Warman (widow of Cy Warman’s grandson, Donald Warman), and great-grandchildren Amy Warman-Eaton, Philip Warman, Scott Warman and Kirsten Warman-Powers. Trey Warman is a great-grandson through Bryan Warman Sr.'s line.
Philipchuk will begin the event with a welcome and official proclamation reading at City Hall. The family will then see local landmarks connected to Warman’s early development and railway history.
A luncheon hosted by the mayor and the Warman History Book Committee will follow at the Warman Senior Drop-In Centre, which originally served as the community’s 1907 Canadian Northern Railway station.
“We are incredibly honoured to welcome the Warman family back to their ancestral home. The legacy of Cy Warman is woven into the tracks, the archives and the very name of our community. This visit bridges our origins with our vibrant present,” Philipchuk said in a statement.
Cy Warman was an American engineer born in 1855. He was also a journalist and author widely known as the “Poet of the Rockies,” and his writings chronicled railway expansion across Western Canada and the United States during a transformative period in North American history.
According to historical accounts, Warman’s reports on the construction of the Canadian Northern Railway in the early 1900s helped draw national attention to the area that would eventually become the City of Warman, originally known as “Diamond,” a reference to the railway junction established there.
City officials said the reunion is intended not only as a family gathering but also as an opportunity for residents to reflect on the community's origins, where the settlement was renamed in 1905 to honour the writer and railway chronicler, and its connection to Canada’s railway expansion.
Members of the Warman History Book Committee have been involved in organizing the event and preparing historical materials that highlight the community’s development from a railway stop to one of Saskatchewan’s fastest-growing cities.
For descendants of Cy Warman, the visit marks a return to what organizers have called the family’s “Diamond roots,” reconnecting later generations with the prairie community that has carried the Warman name for more than a century.
The event comes as Warman continues to celebrate and preserve its historical identity amid rapid growth in the Saskatoon region, with civic leaders emphasizing the importance of recognizing the people and stories that shaped the city’s beginnings.
