Sheila Gorey was a shy, pretty woman whose life was sadly cut short by tuberculosis.

She was the eldest of Michael and Eleanor Gorey's 12 children, born on August 7, 1914 at Waubra. She was baptised in St Patrick's Catholic Cathedral, Ballarat, on August 26, 1914 by Father Kennedy. Her sponsors were David McCafferty and Eliza Flynn.

Sheila helped her mother to raise the younger children to come. Her sister, Noreen, recalls being known by neighbors at Dalmore as "Sheila's baby" because she was almost entirely in her care.

Sheila was the only one of the 12 children to be baptised a Catholic and was committed to her faith throughout life. She received all the sacraments and regularly attended Mass.

She left home, aged about 20, before her youngest brother Peter was born. She lived at first with her uncle Archie Sutherland and his wife Francie at 23 Barkly Street, North Fitzroy. She worked at Lyons Cake Shop in Swanston Street, city.

Sheila later did housework where she had to live in with her employers. They also had another girl working for them who it's said used to stay out late and then share her bed with Sheila to get warm after coming inside on cold nights. Later it was found she had passed tuberculosis onto Sheila.

Aged 26, Sheila married a tram driver named Stan Thomas in 1940. They had a daughter Beverley who was born on September 11, 1942.

Before Beverley was born, and afterwards, the Thomas family made occasional visits to the farm at Icy Creek. On one of these trips in early 1942, Noreen recalls that Sheila was expecting Beverley. "I clearly remember her explaining some of the facts of life to Nell and me. We had been so puzzled about how the baby got out!"

In January 1943 Noreen and Nell went to stay with Sheila at her home in Whitby Street, West Brunswick. They were taken shopping in the city and by tram to St Kilda beach.

"Although Sheila could not have been well (the TB was undetected at that stage), she obviously tried to give us a good time," Noreen said.

"I don't think we ever saw Sheila again after that visit. Not long after that wonderful holiday she was diagnosed as tubercular. I think Beverley was 12 months old.

"Our little niece came to live with us, as Sheila was in and out of sanitariums. She was sent home to die in 1945 or 1946. This sounds brutal, but that's how it was. TB was a scourge in those days. There was no cure in the way of drugs, just rest. The sanitariums were full.

"Our sister Margaret and Sheila's husband Stan looked after her. They were both shift workers (Margaret was a telephonist at Central Exchange) and they alternated their shifts.

"After Sheila's death, Stan's sister Marge and her husband Joe moved in with him. Margaret stayed too. This meant that Stan could have his little daughter back. By then she was nearly four years old. I recall that in the last few months of Sheila's life she did have Beverley with her — rather a risk, but understandable."