BAY MINETTE — Friends and family gathered to remember Michelle Vilborg Tuesday night, celebrating her life with a memorial service at First Presbyterian Church of Bay Minette.

After a time of prayer, Scripture reading and meditation, family members spoke about how they’ll remember Vilborg, missing since June 15 after disappearing from the Carnival Holiday while on a cruise.

“She was a wonderful wife and especially a wonderful grandmother,” Vilborg’s husband, Swede Vilborg, said.

“I don’t know what plans God has for me but this is not my plan. We’re not on the same page.”

The Vilborgs’ son, Erik, said that after the death of his sister Krystal in 2002, he saw a change in his mother that defined who she was as a person.

“After Krystal died she turned to God and I should have followed her path but I didn’t,” he said. “She was a great inspiration to us all. She loved everybody."

A photo display sat at the front of the church, alongside flower arrangements that included a white cross. An organist played hymns and sang a song during the service, which was officiated by the Rev. Dr. Michael Anderson.

“I loved her from the first second,” longtime friend Jan Johnson said. “She was so full of life. Being around her was like being around rays of sunlight. She made me a better person. I’ve never known anyone like her and I never will.”

The service was the first public ceremony for Vilborg since her disappearance. Coast Guard crews searched for Vilborg in the Gulf of Mexico for days following her disappearance, which occured approximately 75 miles southwest of Pensacola.

“Jesus wants us to know we are not alone, that he is close to us,”  Anderson said. “Jesus fully understands grief. He knows loss.”