STEVER, Imelda
Age at Death: 18
Rank Wren
Unit Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service
Service Number W3419
Place of Burial Quebec Memorial Pointe Claire Field of Honour
Date of Birth 1925.09.15
Place of Birth Bathurst NB
Enlistment June 25, 1943, Toronto ON
Date of Death 1944.07.24
Daughter of Vincent and Mary L. Stever, of McWatters
Imelda grew up in a French-Canadian Catholic family with two sisters, four brothers, and no fewer than five other siblings who died in infancy. She had a Grade 6 education and had done sporadic domestic work before enlisting. She noted in her application that she smoked 10-12 cigarettes a day and drank moderately. Her Naval Service Interview Form is a strange mixture of condescension with a few hopeful notes: “Appearance: Attractive French type… Speech: Ungrammatical. ‘My gosh’ sprinkled in conversation… Hasn’t the education for S.B.A. Understands service discipline. Hasn’t had many advantages. Her first trip to the city [Toronto]. Seems very bright and would learn easily. I doubt if she will comprehend entirely the lectures at Conestoga.”
Nonetheless, she took the training on HMCS Conestoga and was assigned as a Wren Messwoman at HMCS Protector, Sydney, Nova Scotia. On July 24, 1944, Imelda accompanied a group of colleagues for a swimming trip in an abandoned quarry while on shore leave. Though unable to swim, she and two friends walked out into the water, when an unseen sudden slope caused them to fall in. Imelda and Wren Mary Rech both drowned.
