Around 1,000 mourners gathered inside a church in Winkler Wednesday to remember four boys killed in a southern Manitoba house fire last week.

The service was followed by a private burial.

Bobby, 15, Timmy, 12, Danny, 10, and Henry, 9, were sleeping on the second floor of the family farmhouse near Kane, in southern Manitoba, when the home caught fire.

Their mother, Doralee Eberhardt, and three younger siblings escaped from the first floor of the home. The boy's father, Jake Froese, and the oldest son, Steven, were just coming home from work after midnight on February 25 when they saw the blaze.

Jake tried to save his sons from the home but could not get to them. Both parents suffered smoke inhalation and have since been treated and released from hospital.

Community members expect Bergthaler Mennonite Church in Winkler to be filled to capacity for the funeral this afternoon. Support has poured in from around the world.

Dennis Matthies with Access Credit Union says the number of donations exceeded $125,000 on Monday and continues to grow, though from now on they've decided to keep the total tally private. A GoFundMe site started by a community member has raised nearly $40,000.

RM Reeve Ralph Groening said the memorial service highlighted the boys' interests -- playing outdoors, working with tools and spending time with family.

"A very outdoorsy, very down-to-earth, very middle-class kind of family, hard-working family," he said.

"Obviously, wonderful boys and a tragic loss."

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

- with files from The Canadian Press