Calvin Edward Courter was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA on February 14th, 1898. He immigrated to Canada with his family in 1905 to Masionneuvve, Quebec. At some point his family moved to Kitchener and lived at 87 Weber St.
His father's name was Lewis (Louis) Courter and his mother was Marietta (Mary Etta, Mary) Strohm (Strome). He had two brothers and three sisters. Tragically his mother and one sister died days apart from an influenza outbreak in October 1918, and are both buried at Mt. Hope cemetery in Waterloo, Ontario.
Calvin enlisted on March 23rd, 1916 in Kitchener. At the time of enlistment his occupation was pipe fitter. He was age 18 at time of enlistment and was described as 5"7" with a fresh complexion and dark brown hair and eyes. His religion was listed as Baptist, but his mother and sister on their death certificates were listed as Roman Catholic. His regimental number is 751523.
At some point it appears he returned to the United States with his father, who died in 1922. He married Edith Schlumkoski who was listed as born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; but in a 1920 census she is noted as Canadian but a naturalized immigrant. They moved to Wayne, Michigan in 1916 and his occupation was listed as a machinist on the 1920 census. By the time of the 1930 census they had five boys: Chandler (1917), Wilbur (1919), Kenneth (1921), Lewis (1924), and Marvin (1926).
Copyright Status
Public domain: Copyright has expired according to Canadian law. No restrictions on use.
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Source Organization
Kitchener Public Library
Collection
Soldier Information Cards - World War One
Transcription
Courter, Calvin E
Private
He enlisted at Kitchener.