Philip Cairns snr, passed away peacefully following an illness.
Mr Cairns had campaigned relentlessly to find answers after his son disappeared while walking back from school in 1986 in Rathfarnham.
Disappearance
Mr Cairns was surrounded by his family at Tallaght Hospital when he died, just three months shy of the 28th anniversary of his son's disappearance.
He is survived by his wife, Alice and five of their six children, Mary, Sandra, Helen, Suzanne and Eoin. Philip (13) disappeared on the afternoon of 23 October 1986 while walking back to his school, Colaiste Eanna, where he had been a first year student for just over a month.
A large-scale investigation was carried out but no trace of the boy was ever found.
Mysteriously, his schoolbag was subsequently discovered lying in a laneway linking Anne Devlin Road and Anne Devlin Drive, which had previously been searched.
The bag contained some of Philip's books, but his geography book and two religion books (Christian Way 1 and the Good News New Testament) were missing.
Forensic tests on the bag did not reveal any information.
On the 20th anniversary of his disappearance in 2006, the family appealed for anyone with information about Philip's disappearance to get in contact with gardai in confidence.
Philip's brother Eoin, who was two years younger and was 11 when his only brother disappeared described how the intervening period had been extremely difficult for his parents and the whole family.
Birthdays
"Philip is always there in the sense that he is not there. At Christmas, birthdays, weddings and other family occasions we think of how Philip should be with us," he said.
He described how Philip had been his best friend and how they had played soccer in their back garden and how the young boy had loved to go fishing with his father.
Local Fianna Fail councillor John Lahart said he had grown up on the road where the Cairns family lived, saying: "Philip has never been forgotten by the people of Ballyroan."
"Philip Senior's death will be felt very much by the people here. That loss will be felt by everybody," he added.
He said that Alice Cairns was a very visible presence in the local community, adding that she was a "lovely, gentle spiritual person."
The funeral of Philip Senior takes place on Wednesday at the Holy Spirit Church, Ballyroan.
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Phil Cairns was surrounded by his family as he passed away peacefully at Tallaght Hospital on Sunday.
He is survived by wife Alice and their six children as well as extended family and friends.
Philip was just 13 when he disappeared while on his way back to school on October 23, 1986.
Philip had left the family home on Ballyroan Road in Rathfarnham to return to the local Colaiste Eanna school where he was a first year student.
The garda file on the disappearance of Philip Cairns remains open.
His family have never given up hope that they would find out what happened to him.
Hundreds are expected to attend the removal and funeral of Mr Cairns.
His removal to the Holy Spirit Church, Ballyroan, will be at 5.30pm on Tuesday.
The funeral will take place at 10am on Wednesday, with burial immediately afterwards in Mount Venus Cemetery.
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