Cram once admitted that his career wasnt without sacrifice. His first wife was Rollins classmate, Jean Turner, who also graduated in 1941, and went on to receive a masters degree in social work from Columbia University. His second wife, Jane, is a former chemistry professor at Mount Holyoke College. Cram chose not to have any children, "because I would either be a bad father or a bad scientist."
Cram died of cancer in 2001, at the age of 82.