157700 Pte. Elmer Leroy Stevens was born on June 2nd, 1890, as the youngest of 9 children of John & Abigail Stevens, who were farmers in Oxford County near Woodstock, Ontario. His mother passed away when Elmer was only twelve. He was employed as a street railway conductor.
Elmer enlisted with the 81st Battalion, Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force, on September 14th, 1915. He was transferred to the 4th CMR, joining them in the field on June 29th, 1916. The 81st Battalion was a reserve battalion which was absorbed by the 4th CMR in June 1916, after the 4th CMR's huge losses at the "Battle for Mount Sorrel" on the 2nd. In total 390 men of the 81st Battalion were transferred to the 4th CMR between 7th and 29th June, 1916.
Elmer was wounded on September 19th, 1916. It is unclear when he returned to service, but he did fight at Passchendaele in 1917. By coincidence, he fought alongside Thomas Laidlaw Mather and witnessed Thomas' death on the opening day of the "2nd Battle of Passchendaele" on October 26th, 1917.
Many years later, Elmer's great-niece would marry Thomas's nephew, and it was Elmer who supplied the Mather family with information regarding Thomas's death.
Private Elmer Leroy Stevens was struck off strength on May 27th, 1919. He returned to Ontario and married Marjory Cameron Grant, who was born in Invernesshire, Scotland. The couple lived in Toronto, Ontario. They did not have children.
Elmer passed away on June 30th, 1961, at the age of 71. Marjory later passed away on July 13th, 1982.
Information collected by Lavina (Stevens) Mather (great-niece) and her daughter, Lynn Weimer, with much assistance from 4cmr.com