Plan for the Future
Christina A. Cramer
Mother, Microbiologist, Master Gardener
Christina A. Cramer, a 21 year resident of Chatham, died peacefully at King James Care Center in Chatham on August, 9th after a very long and valiant battle against cancer. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Corpus Christi Church, 234 Southern Blvd, Chatham, on Wednesday, August 14th at 10:00am. Interment will follow at St. Vincent Cemetery. Relatives and friends are invited to visit at Wm. A. Bradley & Son Funeral Home, 345 main St., Chatham on Tuesday from 2-4 and 7-9pm.
Born Christina Leonora Adam on Columbus Day, 1956 on Staten Island, Chris grew up in a large and loving German family in Union, New Jersey, where she was affectionately known as “Didi”. After graduation from Union High School she attended Rutgers College, earning a degree in Microbiology from the Waksman Institute. Chris then pursued her dream of going west when she entered the graduate program in immunology at Colorado State University. Following graduate school, she returned to the Garden State and began a 20 year career as a research microbiologist at Schering Plough and later Merck where she garnered multiple recognitions including the 2000 President’s Award for Research Excellence.
Chris was an avid tennis player and bicyclist as a younger woman. She also had a passion for cooking and the arts, particularly drawing and stained glass. With her initial diagnosis in 2001, Chris committed herself to family and home life. She became active in Corpus Christi Parish where she was a CCD teacher, a Eucharistic Minister and a member of the Altar Society. Chris also became a New Jersey Certified Master Gardener and a prolific quilter.
She is survived by her parents, Philip and Paula Adam of New Bern, North Carolina, her devoted husband of almost 28 years, Jeffrey, and two loving sons, Matthew of New York City and Andrew of Chatham. She is also survived by her sister Patty and husband Steve of Padre Island, Texas, Brother Philip and wife Pat of Northport Village, New York, and sister Paula and husband Fred of Rockaway, NJ as well as 6 nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association.