John Babcock

Babcock was born on July 23, 1900, into a family of thirteen children on a farm in Frontenac County, Ontario. According to Babcock, the barn where he was born (which no longer exists) was located off Highway 38 in South Frontenac Township. His father died in 1906 after a tree-cutting accident, when Babcock was only six years old. As described in his account given to Maclean's, while his father was cutting down one tree, another dead tree fell on his shoulder. Although he was brought into the house on bobsleigh, he only survived another two hours. Babcock said that this was an "awful blow" to the family. School was never a concern for Babcock, and he did not earn his high school diploma until the age of 95. On growing up in the area, Babcock claims that he "didn't do very much," although he admits that "[i]t was a fun place to grow up." Babcock partook in fishing, hunting, and swimming—especially around the local Sydenham Lake—in order to pass the time with the other kids his age. He would return to the area in 1919, after his wartime experiences, but soon after left for the United States. Nevertheless, Babcock's relatives continue to work at the Crater Dairy farm (named after the Holleford crater, a remnant of a meteor strike) and the community grew to greatly respect John. ==World War I==

At the age of fifteen and a half, Babcock was impressed at Perth Road by two recruiting officers, one a lieutenant and one a sergeant, who quoted from the poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade". Babcock was recruited in Sydenham, Ontario and joined the 146th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Babcock was turned down, but managed to make it all the way to Halifax by train before he was stopped by the company commander. but the war ended before he could be brought to the front lines. For this reason, Babcock claims that he never felt like "a real soldier" and rarely talked of his experiences until his centenary. In Canada during wartime, individuals could be promoted to acting ranks in order to meet service requirements. ==After the First World War==

With relatives in the United States, Babcock paid the $7 head tax He received a Canadian Army pension that totaled $750 shortly after the conflict and took advantage of veteran vocational training in his native country to become an electrician. He ran a small light plant in his home neighbourhood of Sydenham, as Canadian law prior to 1977 limited dual citizenship. After the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, he attempted to sign up for active duty with the army's flying service (the United States Air Force was not formed until 1947), but was turned down for being too old. ==Last surviving Canadian veteran==

From the death of Dwight Wilson on May 9, 2007, Babcock was the last known Canadian veteran of the First World War. He was proud of his status as the last surviving Canadian World War I veteran, although he did not feel the need to be honoured in a specific state funeral. Instead, he was of the opinion that "they should commemorate all of them, instead of just one." Governor General Michaëlle Jean, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay. James Moore, a Member of Parliament from British Columbia, visited Babcock personally to deliver gifts and greetings. For his birthday, Babcock and his wife went to Rosauers for his favourite meal of hamburgers and French fries. In 2008, he was visited by Canadian officials and wrote to Prime Minister Stephen Harper that he was interested in regaining his Canadian citizenship in a letter that was hand-delivered to him in a cabinet meeting. The request was approved by the Prime Minister and the paperwork was signed by Governor General Michaëlle Jean, after which officials from Citizenship and Immigration Canada were flown to Spokane to complete the swearing in ceremony. Babcock credited his longevity to the intense physical training that he received in both the United States and Canadian armies. He was cremated and his remains were scattered across the Pacific Northwest. The local Royal Canadian Legion in Sydenham, Ontario has a collection of First World War items on display, including a roll call with Babcock's name on it, in his honour. ==See also==