Clifford Jungfer was born at Stockwell in the Barossa Valley, South Australia, on 19 October 1903. His parents were of pioneer German stock and he remained interested in the Barossa Valley community throughout his long life. He proceeded to Adelaide High School and the University of Adelaide where he graduated with distinction in 1926. After his residency at the Royal Adelaide Hospital he began general practice in Lobethal, South Australia in 1928 and continued in active practise there with only temporary interruptions until his death in 1979. In 1976 at the age of seventy-three he set down the central aim of his further work: "the prevention of disease and avoidable disability with primary emphasis on personal action by the individual".

Clifford Jungfer's whole professional life had been dedicated to such a principle. In arriving at such a conclusion he acknowledged freely the inspiration he had received by his teachers at the Adelaide Medical School, notably Dr Frank S Hone and Professor Sir James Spence, the first holder of a chair of child health in Britain who visited Australia as Sims Travelling Professor in 1947 and spent a weekend with him at Lobethal. Spence advised him to get "his credentials". So he did by gaining his MRACP in 1949, when he also gained his MD by thesis from the university of Adelaide for the rural child health survey his had already carried out in the Adelaide hills in an honorary capacity.

Clifford Jungfer carried out a definitive survey of Australian general practice in the late fifties. This became a major reference point for the development of the postgraduate educational programme of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners in which he took the leading role. He also maintained an active interest in all aspects of public health and rehabilitation. He worked part-time in student health for the National Heart Foundation. He was a member of the SA state committee of the RACP from 1954 to 1960 and president of the BMA (SA branch) from 1958 to 1959.

Clifford Jungfer saw himself primarily as a country doctor. He exemplified the highest traditions of Australian country general practice. He maintained the highest professional standards in his own work and expected it also in his colleagues. His leadership of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners as president from 1966 to 1968 then censor in chief from 1968 to 1971 was an extension of this belief. He commanded universal respect among his colleagues and in the community. He enjoyed an international reputation in his chosen field. He received the CBE in 1965 and was given the highest accolade by the RACGP by award of the Rose Hunt Medal in 1976. As a man he had a gentle manner, with unfailing courtesy. He had a fund of good stories. He was a wit, but his underlying seriousness and determination was always there. He was a skilled politician, but above all, a magnificent doctor.