A dad of five was found dead by his teenage daughter after he boarded a Stena Line Ferry to Liverpool to visit some family friends.
Dublin based Jon Morley was on his way to Liverpool with his son and daughter when he was discovered dead.
The 52-year-old died just 20 minutes into his journey from Dublin to Holyhead on April 8.
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Jon's family described his death as "completely out of the blue" and said he was otherwise a "fit and healthy" man.
The father of four sons and a daughter had lived in Liverpool for over a decade and was described as a "family man at heart."
Jon's brother-in-law Dave Herron said: "He was living in Dublin after spending many years in Liverpool, and he was bringing his two children to visit friends in Liverpool on the Stena Line, and he was feeling a bit tired, so he sort of decided to have a sleep."
He said Jon's daughter, who is in her early teens, tried to wake her dad up and alerted people when she was unable to do so. He was later pronounced dead.
The results of a post-mortem, carried out by a coroner in North Wales, found that John had died as a result of a heart attack and heart failure.
A Gofundme page has now been set up to help the family cover the costs of Jon's funeral once he has been repatriated back to Ireland.
Paying tribute to Jon, Dave said: "He was a good guy, family orientated. In his younger years, he was the life and soul of the party, but as you get older, you [are not] the life and soul of the party."
He said Jon, who worked as a tiler, tiled the floors in his home while his partner was in hospital as a surprise.
He added: "He was one of those guys that if you needed a favour, if he could help you out, he would. He was a family man at heart."
"It came completely out of the blue. He seemed fit and healthy. [The family] are absolutely devastated. It absolutely came as a shock.
"We knew he was going to Liverpool for a couple of days with the kids to see friends, but this is the last thing we would have expected."
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