Today, thousands have filled Toowoomba’s Empire Theatre to celebrates their lives, two of the 298 cut short when MH17 was shot down over Ukraine on July 18.

The Guards were held in high regard in the Toowoomba community, where Mr Guard was the long-serving director of pathology at Toowoomba Hospital and Mrs Guard worked as a GP.

They were parents to Paul 36, Amanda, 34 and David, 31, and were enjoying a new period of their lives as grandparents. In a moving tribute las month, Paul said his parents lived for their family.

Mayor Paul Antonio said the memorial would give the community an opportunity to start the healing process.

"There has been a deep community response to this terrible tragedy,” Cr Antonio said.

“It's important that we come together to express our grief and offer support and sympathy for the Guard family.

"It's difficult to comprehend that an incident of this nature on the other side of the world can have such a profound effect on our peaceful city of Toowoomba."

4:15pm. The service has finished with sensitive and emotional comments from the couple's three children.

Amanda:" Mum and Dad, if you were able to hear me, I would  say to you; 'You have given us everything we you possibly could."

"You will live on through us, our children and the friends whose lives you touched.

"We love you both so much. Bye."

Paul: "As a couple you loved each other, supported each other and delivered great things together.

"We were glad you were together in your final adventure, doing something that you love."

4.00pm: Amanda emotionally thanked her father for his good humoured story-telling and treeehouses.

"You had all the voices down pat. Thank you for the three-storey treehouses, the flying foxes and the kilometres of walking trails you constructed so lovingly through the bush."
She thanked her father for "saving their lives" on many occasions.
"Including jumping into a swimming pool full-clothed to scoop me off the bottom. And thank you for digging Paul and I out of a sandpit that had collapsed on us."David thanked his parents for their encouragement and support in their school, personal lives and and careers.
"We never felt pressured or pushed. We just felt loved and supported."
He thanked his parents for talking them on holidays with them, into their young adult lives.We explored the world together."

3.45pm: The Toowoomba Chorale Society performs "For the Beauty of the Earth" for the service.

The couple's three children - Paul, Amanda and David - have been welcomed to the stage. They welcomed relatives from Iceland, Sweden and Malaysia.
"It is so wonderful to have them all here, " Paul said.
Paul told the service the family still hoped the downing of the plane would have a positive outcome.
"We are hopeful that this incident could result in a lasting peace in this part of the world."

3.35pm: Roger Guard was a keen member of the Toowoomba Road Runners and fellow member, Luke Johnson, said Mr Guard "stood out as a runner" because he rarely wore shoes. He said Mr Guard was the club historian and "fashion designer", who designed the group's running singlet. Mr Guard had "the vision of an eagle" and could spot a five cent coin on the road from 100 metres away, and would race to get it.

3.20pm: Dr Carol Cox, who worked with Jill Guard for 20 years, said Mrs Guard was a "quiet achiever" and "indispensable member of the medical team". According to Dr Cox, "she (Mrs Guard) rejoiced in everyone else's achievements whilst being modest about her own". She said mothering was Mrs Guard's "main source of satisfaction", describing the loss of she and her husband as "senseless". "They've both left planet Earth better than they found it," Dr Cox said.

3.15pm: David Stranger, manager of the Toowoomba Hospital pathology lab where Mr Guard worked for 30 years, described Mr Guard as a "man who had a passion for what he did" who was "highly regarded" by all in the medical fraternity. A tearful Mr Stranger said Mr Guard always made sure the dead were treated with dignity and respect "in stark contrast" to how the dead had been treated at the MH17 crash site.

3.00pm: Jill Guard's sisters, Catherine, Elizabeth and Bronwyn, have spoken of a gifted student who grew up to be a witty woman. They recalled when Jill met her future husband, Roger, when he dropped a skeleton to their Brisbane home when they were both medical students. They married in 1972. Mrs Guard's 94-year-old mother was not able to make the journey to Toowoomba for the service.

2.55pm: Roger Guard's sister Marion recalled their idyllic childhood in Warwick. She said, as a child, her brother loved collecting tea packets and butterflies. He also had a deep interest in astronomy, history and natural science. She described him as a "fascinated observer" and a "fascinating companion".

2.50pm: Cr Antonio said the Guards were "the type of people we're proud to call our very own" and said he was "confident their legacy will never be forgotten".

2.45pm: Toowoomba mayor, Councillor Paul Antonio, said the MH17 disaster "strikes to the core of our very being". He has paid tribute to all the victims of the disaster and "we pause to remember and grieve two of our very own".

"We stand with you and we support you," Cr Antonio said.

2.40pm: The service has been opened by CEO of the Toowoomba Hospital Foundation, Peter Rookas. He declared the service a "celebration".