Babcock, shown in this 1920 photo, enlisted as a soldier at the age of 15. (Larry MacDougal/Canadian Press) John Babcock, Canada's last known First World War veteran, was being honoured Saturday in a memorial service in his adopted hometown in Washington state.

Babcock died earlier this month in his home in Spokane at the age of 109.

He enlisted as a teenager but was kept away from the front lines because of his young age.

He moved to the U.S. shortly after the war.

Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn and General Walter Natynczyk, Canada's chief of defence staff, were attending the service in Spokane.

Blackburn was to present Babcock's widow with the flag that flew over Parliament on Feb. 18, the day he died.

Because he never saw combat, Babcock never made much of his veteran's status. While there had been a push to have a state funeral, before his death Babcock made it clear he didn't want one.