THE funeral of a father, found dead after he went missing from his Vange home, is to be held later this week.

Family and friends of 47-yearold Michael Redmond will say their farewells at a ceremony on Wednesday at Pitsea Crematorium, His family will provide the floral tributes, but other mourners are asked not to send flowers, but instead to make donations to Little Havens Children’s Hospice.

Mr Redmond’s mother, Maureen, said: “Michael loved kids and he wasadevoted father.

He was very close to his daughter, Danielle.

“He always said if he won the lottery he would have paid for a child at the hospice to have a lifesaving operation, so this is what he would have wanted.”

Mr Redmond went missing from his home in The Vale, Vange, on Friday, July 5.

He was last seen near the 13th hole of Basildon Golf Course, in Clay Hill Lane.

Police launched a large-scale search for the engineer, returning to search dense woodlands at the golf course last Monday.

It was there they discovered Mr Redmond’s body.

Mr Redmond’s funeral is at the crematorium, in Church Road, Bowers Gifford, at 2.40pm on Wednesday