The funeral of Winnie Johnson, mother of Moors Murder victim Keith Bennett, will take place later on Thursday.
Tormented to the last, the 78-year-old died without fulfilling her lifelong wish to find her son's makeshift grave on Saddleworth Moor and give him a proper Christian burial.
The 12-year-old was abducted and murdered by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley - the only one of their five young victims whose body has never been found.
The whereabouts of Keith Bennet's body remains unknown
Mrs Johnson had begged and pleaded with the killers for help in locating her son's last resting place but to no avail.
The former hospital worker and mother of nine had been suffering from cancer for a number of years when she died in a hospice on August 18.
Her funeral will take place at St Chrysostom's Church, in Victoria Park, Manchester, where Mrs Johnson, a widow, was a regular parishioner and Keith attended Sunday School.
A private burial for family only will follow the service.
Keith was last seen by his mother in the early evening on June 16 1964 after he left home in Eston Street, Longsight, Manchester, on his way to his grandmother's house nearby.
Brady and Hindley's other victims were Pauline Reade, 16, who disappeared on her way to a disco on July 12 1963; John Kilbride, 12, who was snatched in November the same year; Lesley Ann Downey, 10, who was lured away from a funfair on Boxing Day 1964, and Edward Evans, 17, who was axed to death in October 1965.
The killers were caught after the Evans murder and Lesley and John's bodies recovered from the moors.
Both killers were taken back to Saddleworth Moor to help police find the remains of the outstanding victims but only Pauline's body was found.
Brady claimed he could not remember where he had buried Keith.
In 2009, police said a covert search operation on the moor which used a wealth of scientific experts had also failed to discover any trace of the boy.
Winnie Johnson lighting a candle at Manchester Cathedral during her son's memorial service
Hindley died in jail in 2002 aged 60. Brady, 74, is currently being held in Ashworth Hospital, a high-security mental health unit on Merseyside.
Despite Mrs Johnson's dying wishes, he has refused to provide any further help in locating Keith's body.