It's been more than one year since an elderly St. Albert couple disappeared after leaving to visit friends in B.C., and even though their remains have not been found, their family is preparing to say goodbye.

"Writing your parents' obituary is not a pleasant thing," Bret McCann said Saturday.

The couple's son wrote the piece to honour Lyle and Marie McCann's memory publicly in a St. Albert newspaper, and the family has planned a memorial service on what would have been the couple's 59th wedding anniversary.

The decision did not come easily for the family, who are still trying to come to terms with the idea the couple is most likely gone.

"I am in denial to some extent," Bret McCann said in an interview with CTV News. "When I see the word murder associated with my parents, [or] deceased – those are jarring words."

"It was hard for me to come to the realization that they are gone," Nicole Walshe, granddaughter of Lyle and Marie McCann said. "It's ok that we let that piece go."

The disappearance of the couple has still left the family and investigators with few questions answered.

More than one year ago, the couple left on a vacation, through the Rocky Mountains.

Two days passed before their burned motorhome was found at the Minnow Lake campground – the vehicle they were towing was found days later several kilometres away near Carrot Creek.

The only person of interest in the case, Travis Vader, is currently behind bars on separate charges.

RCMP and the McCann family have conducted several searches over the last year, but have uncovered few clues as to the couple's whereabouts.

Bret McCann said this obituary and memorial service is not the family giving up on finding out what happened to the beloved couple.

"By no means are we giving up on our search for what happened to my parents," McCann said. "That is so important to us and that will gnaw away at us for the rest of our lives."

While the search continues, the family will take the time to celebrate the life of a couple their granddaughter describes as inspirational in their love for each other.

"It was never Lyle or Marie, it was ‘Darling, can you do this'," Walshe said of her grandparents. "I just think you rarely see people being together that long and that infatuated with each other."

The public memorial service will be held at the St. Albert Catholic Church (7 St. & Vital Avenue) on Saturday, July 30 at 11 a.m.

In the obituary, the family asked that in lieu of flowers, those attending the memorial service donate to the Search and Rescue Association of Alberta, the association's website can be found here.

The family is asking anyone who knows anything regarding the missing couple to call police or Crimestoppers.

With files from Sonia Sunger