Friends and family will gather at Falconshead Grill.

One week after receiving word of her death, Joel Berry, accompanied by friends, sorts through photos, videos and belongings of Diana O’Brien at the home they shared near Cusheon Lake on Salt Spring Island.

Those who were close to her, recovering from the initial shock of her death in Shanghai and the media onslaught that followed, begin to prepare for her memorial set for 3 p.m. on Sunday, July 20 at Falconshead Grill at the Salt Spring Golf Course.

Friends expect the room will be filled with flowers and wall-to-wall images of O’Brien that will engulf the room with her spirit.

“She loved life, loved playing and laughing,” said Berry. “Every day her game plan was to laugh as much as possible and have fun. She brought life to everyone around her; she was an unbelievable light.”

Last Monday Berry received word that his girlfriend of five years had been killed in the Shanghai apartment building where she was living while modelling for JH Model Agency.

The agency has since apparently closed up shop and disappeared.

Over the next few days, more information trickled in as Chinese authorities continued their investigation.

They said she had been stabbed, and within a few days Shanghai police, who were reportedly ordered by top officials to solve the case quickly, formed a special task force.

They used a video surveillance tape to arrest an 18-year-old Shanghai teen who has now confessed to killing O’Brien in a botched robbery after following her back to her apartment. He may face the death penalty.

Back on Salt Spring, residents and visitors have followed the media closely looking for details of the investigation. But O’Brien’s friends and father say it has all been “too much.”

The past week brought media from across Canada to Salt Spring, hoping to speak with O’Brien’s friends and receive updates on the investigation.

“I’ve tried not to watch too much of the news,” said Berry, noting his information on the investigation has been coming from O’Brien’s mother, Deb O’Brien, who went to Shanghai to bring her daughter’s body back to Salt Spring.

“We’re proud of her for doing that,” said Berry. “It brought us a lot of confidence about what was really going on.”

He said, “She seems confident they’ve done a good job, as far as policing went, and took it quite seriously.”

Deb O’Brien is expected to return before the memorial with her daughter’s body.

“She’s not leaving China without it,” said Tami Benoit, a friend who is organizing the memorial.

O’Brien’s father Mike O’Brien from Regina plans to attend, as do her brother Jesse, sister Danielle and half-sister Oona.

In the meantime, before O’Brien’s family arrives, Benoit said Berry “has been surrounded 24-7” by close friends.

“They’ve been looking at pictures, setting up the VCR to watch videos of her and going through a lot of her stuff. They found a roll of 150 pictures Diana took of herself, which were absolutely gorgeous.”

Berry said an apple tree, grafted with four different kinds of apples, was given to him by his brother Ben Berry as a gift. He plans to plant it in his backyard in honour of his girlfriend’s affection for apple pies.

“She was like a little hummingbird; she loved sweets,” he said.

“She taught us how to make pies,” said her close friend Tessa Young-Serra, who hopes to make apple pies with the tree’s apples in the fall.

“. . . she always lived life to the fullest and loved the Salt Spring lifestyle,” said Young-Serra.

“Diana is a free-spirited goddess who loved music, dancing, laughing and most of all hanging out with her friends. Diana has been an inspiration to us all and will be in our hearts forever.”