John Sergeant Cram III

John Sergeant Cram III - HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SC - John Sergeant Cram, III, known to most as "Jackie", died after a brief illness at his residence on Sunday, October 21, 2007. He was 75 years old. He was born in New York on the 30th of May 1932, the son of Edith Kingdon Drexel Cram and Henry (Harry) Sergeant Cram. He was educated first as the only white child at the school run by his mother at Foot Point Plantation, his father's property in Bluffton. He later attended Browning School in New York, and afterwards graduated Summa Cum Laude from St Paul's School in Concord, NH. He attended Princeton for a couple of years before inheriting money from his late mother's estate and deciding to become a bon vivant , living and partying at various times in New York, Jamaica, London and Savannah before returning to Bluffton in the late seventies. His life as something of a playboy came to an end in August 1970, when he was hit in the head by a brickbat as he was driven through Fairfield Square by his stepsister during the evening of Hilton Head's only racial disturbance. From that time on, he was dependent on others and led a more tranquil life than before. Though he had lost his wonderful abilities of hilarious story telling and mimicking, he retained his manners and consideration for others. He was married first to Sally Stokes, currently Mrs. Wynn Chamberlain of Marrakech, at The Church of the Cross in 1960 in Bluffton. This was followed by a divorce shortly thereafter, though they remained great friends. In 1967, he married Lady Jeanne Louise Campbell, who died earlier this year in New York. They were later divorced. He was descended from Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant, Jay Gould, Peter Cooper and Lady Godiva. Mr. Cram is survived by his stepsister, Helen Stanislawski, of Bluffton; stepbrother, Billy Guest, of Atlanta; half-sister Clare Cram Vidich, of Connecticut; half-brothers, Peter Cram and Hank Cram, of Bluffton; and their assorted spouses, nieces and nephews. There will be a memorial service at 3:00 pm on Monday, October 29, 2007 at The Church of the Cross, 110 Calhoun St., Bluffton, SC 29910. Memorials may be sent to Alzheimer's Respite & Resource, 3001 Meeting Street, Hilton Head Island, SC 29926; The Bluffton Cemetery Fund, PO Box 84, Bluffton, SC 29910; or Hospice of the Low Country, P.O. Box 24158, Hilton Head Island, SC 29925-4158. Sauls Funeral Home Bluffton, SC www.saulsfh.com Savannah Morning News October 27, 2007 Please sign our Obituary Guest Book at www.savannahnow.com