Sheila Eileen Clifton (later known as Clerehan), was born at North Melbourne and died at Kew. She was the daughter of Percy and Teresa Clifton, and was the middle sister between Hazel and Beatrice.
Sheila was educated at the Academy of Mary Immaculate, Fitzroy and the University of Melbourne, where she gained an MD in 1941. She started work as an Resident Medical Officer at St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne (SVH) in 1941, and was Director of Pathology at St Vincent's from 1956 to 1964. She retired in 1987.
Her career also included periods as Registrar at London Hospital United Kingdom, from 1951 to 1952, and working at missions in Ranchi and Hazaribag in India from 1954 to 1955, and from 1964 to 1966. Her interest in the humanities led her to study for a Bachelor of Arts in English literature and history which she completed in 1980.
In February 1985, she married Brian Clerehan (FRACP) and became stepmother to his eight children, and eventually step-grandmother to eleven grandchildren. Sheila was strong and resilient with remarkable humanitarian values, and was much loved and admired.