February 19,2010 – On Thursday, Canada’s last remaining soldier from World War I, John Babcock, passed away at the age of 109. Prime Minister Stephen Harper honored the memory of Babcock and used the occasion to highlight the war’s impact on Canada’s emergence as a great nation that defended freedom and democracy. The head of the Canadian military, Michaelle Jean echoed these sentiments in her tribute to the soldier and further added that she felt especially privileged to have the opportunity of paying respect to the last veteran of the war.

Babcock was only 16 and working as a farm boy in Kitchener, Ontario when he joined the Canadian Forces. Throughout the course of his time spent in the service, he loaded trucks in Halifax and dug ditches in England. The war ended before he was to be sent to the front lines on his 18th birthday.

Babcock died at his home in Spokane, Washington, where he had been living for numerous years. In 2008, Canada reinstated his citizenship in a gesture of honor to his standing as the last veteran. His wife Dorothy plans on having his ashes scattered in the Pacific northwest mountains, where his first wife’s remains were also strewn.