Shelton Edgar Wijetilaka was a general surgeon who worked at the General Hospital in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Born on 17 November 1920, he was the second child and elder son of Arthur Wijetilaka, a solicitor, and his wife Bernice née Dewasurendra. Educated at the Royal College in Colombo, he studied medicine at the University of Ceylon where he was awarded the gold medal for obstetrics and gynaecology when he did his final MB BS in 1946. He proceeded to do house jobs at the General Hospital in Colombo and passed the fellowship of the college in 1952 together with that of the Edinburgh college. In Kandy, he was a consultant surgeon at the University teaching hospital and then became a consultant at the General Hospital in Colombo. He was the honorary treasurer of the Ceylon Medical Association. Outside medicine he enjoyed athletics and photography. He married Hemali Jayasundera in 1947 and they had two daughters and a son who became a doctor. In June 2011 he died aged 90.