In Memoriam:
Dr. Jeffrey Robert Cram

by Richard Katz

Born March 30, 1949 in Salt Lake City, Utah
Died March 2, 2005 at his home in Nevada City, California

Dr. Cram was the principle scientific researcher for the Flower Essence Society from 1997 until his death, conducting ground-breaking double-blind studies on flower essences for stress and for sensitivity. He also designed and coordinated a multi-site clinical study of flower essence therapy for depression (published in the premier edition of Calix, International Journal of Flower Essence Therapy ).

At the time of his death, Dr. Cram had a private practice as a holistic psychologist at the Sierra Health Institute in Nevada City, and conducted research projects through Clinical Resources, Inc. He was a pioneer in biofeedback research, as an active member of the Biofeedback Society of California, and in Surface Electromyography, as founding president of the Surface EMG Society of North America. He was also a designer of several muscle scanning devices and software programs.

Besides flower essence research, Dr. Cram studied the power of prayer over long distances, and holistic approaches to pain relief. He published seven books and more than 50 articles. During his life he traveled to over 20 countries and almost all 50 states. He enjoyed photography, sculpture, and stained-glass. He had been a member of the Ananda spiritual community, and he was a devotee of the spiritual teachings of Yogananda.

Given the paucity of rigorous flower essence scientific research, and the skepticism of conventional medical science, Dr. Cram’s research has given vital support to the credibility of flower essence therapy. Our greatest tribute to him would be to build upon the foundation he has given us by conducting further research studies.

It was only in December of 2004 that Dr. Cram discovered that he had colon cancer that had metastasized to his liver and lymph system. He tried an alternative metabolic therapy, but the cancer had spread too far and too fast. For the last weeks of life, “Jeffree” lived peacefully at home, surrounded by tall pine trees, and the loving care of his wife Theodora and daughters Heidi and Shannon. He accepted his destiny gracefully, and requested that I give him some flower essences to help his journey “off this planet.” After his death, his wife Theodora sent me a letter describing his last days. The following is an excerpt:

I sincerely appreciate your sweet attendance to Jeffree in his final days. Starting about 5 days before his passing he refused all morphine and Ativan. He would only take the "Journey Juice from Dr. Katz", which I offered to him in increasing intervals. Toward the end, he couldn't manage the tiny amount of liquid in his mouth, so I rubbed it on his third eye and heart. Jeffree laid motionless for the last three days with his eyes fixed on Yogananda's photograph on the wall, breathing his deep rhythmic breaths and keeping his heart rate strong and regular. ...

He first shut down all circulation to his feet and legs slowly up to his hips, to the point that rigor mortis had set in before his leaving his body. He did the same thing with his hands to shoulders. Then he released his sweat gland activity which resulted in a salt/ammonia crystalline substance that coated his body providing an eerie glow in the low evening light. All the while he would gently moan... "hummm... ah ha...." and an occasional giggle. ..He [had] no blood pressure or pulses on his extremities for the last 5 days. The true scientist to the end .... He was peaceful and clearly very happy.