Certainly it is Conrad who seems to embody, in one slight frame, the polarities of his parents' lives and personalities. Finally, there is the legacy contained in any will: The power to reward or to punish the living, to define or rearrange the narrative of a family's history. It is also different from proving that a respected lawyer and former Cabinet member, in league with a longtime family associate, unfairly loaded the dice. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. Cafritz was a native and longtime resident of Washington, DC. He is also survived by his brother Conrad Cafritz, chairman and CEO of Cafritz Interests, a real estate company. No one needed to be told that this was Gwendolyn Cafritz's last hurrah. ", While she cultivated the mighty, Morris looked closer to home, helping to found the Washington Community Chest, becoming an activist in local Jewish groups. But Carter and Conrad Cafritz are not named in their mother's will. Only between the lines or in conversations with old friends can one make out how nakedly she wore her ambitions, and how hard she was working to measure up. Website by Red Clay Creative, Chances are, many Washingtonians might not even realize how much real estate the Cafritz family is responsible for in the area. I hope they will. For now, the house is tended by at least two servants, who are listed in court documents as living there, and the grass is beautifully clipped, the pachysandra well-tended. Mr. As time went on, she lost complete control, and she had to drink more. Thanks to the support of the Cafritz Foundation for the last 25 years, CEPL has supported organizational transformation across the public sector in the city. Remembering Calvin Cafritz - Meyer Foundation His father, Morris, established one of the Washington region's leading philanthropic entities, the Morris and . There are, superficially, great similarities among the three brothers, who all share their mother's dark coloring. But maybe they just don't want Gwen Cafritz to have the last word. But she had a disconcertingly self-serious way of advertising it. After their marriage in 1981, Conrad and Peggy bought Sen. Stuart Symington's house in the Foxhall Road area, studied it for a while, then tore it down to build a new house. But he reached outside that circle when he finally married. Calvin Cafritz, the eldest son of real estate developer Morris Cafritz, died last week at the age of 91. Calvin Cafritz, D.C. developer and head of the Cafritz Foundation, dies Marvin Katz Obituary - Richardson, TX - Dignity Memorial Mr. Cafritz said that the awards are designed to "shine a light on the contributions of extraordinary government employees. Some basic help and starters when you have to write a tribute to someone you love. She set aside bequests for two nephews ($35,000 each); a former company employee, Dorothy Casey ($10,000); and four former servants (two bequests of $50,000 and two of $25,000). You have funeral questions, we have answers. Finally, there is an emotional legacy to be earned -- or perhaps shed. D.C. developer, businessman and philanthropist Calvin Cafritz, the eldest son of real estate icon Morris Cafritz and his wife Gwendolyn, died Thursday at Sibley Memorial Hospital. The same plain white damask draped the table, with plain white damask napkins tied around settings of her heavy Georg Jensen flatware. But its true targets are two longtime advisers who are executors of her estate: Martin Atlas, for decades the closest business associate of both Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz, and William P. Rogers, the former attorney general and secretary of state who was Gwendolyn's personal attorney. ", Conrad Cafritz is, in a word fondly used by friends, weird. Cafritz Family Obituaries | Cafritz Last Name Obits Morris Cafritz is remembered more for the quantity than for the aesthetic quality of his works. His mother, Gwendolyn, one of Washington's leading hostesses in the post-World War II years, was President of the Foundation from 1964 to 1988. ", Today, he still combats a version of that assumption, pithily summed up by one detractor in this way: "You don't have to be Albert Einstein to take money and make additional money in real estate." Calvin Cafritz, the eldest son of real estate developer Morris Cafritz, died last week at the age of 91. Ridgewell's had produced, out of retirement, the same waiter who had announced the guests eight years before. He was "greatly respected and liked, even in an antisemitic society," recalls Dixon. In 1971, Mr. Cafritz resigned to form Calvin Cafritz Enterprises, with investments in aviation, communications, and Washington area real estate. ", As is often true when the secretive disease of alcoholism is combined with the see-no-evil sociability of Washington, Gwendolyn's problem was rarely recognized. Where he was meat and potatoes, earnest frugality, civic pride, she was flashing dark beauty, mercurial moods and social ambition. "I make no other provision in this will for the benefit of my children," it states, "as their financial needs are adequately provided for" by the old agreement giving them $7 million each. Then there is the foundation itself, with its powerful endowment for the city. "I used to call up the house and get her maid, and her maid would talk to me about her, and say that she was completely worn out and simply couldn't get up and get herself ready to go on the warpath," says socialite Polly Logan. Calvin Cafritz Rockville, Maryland March 29, 1931 - January 12, 2023 Share Obituary: Tribute Wall Obituary & Events Share a memory Send Flowers Share a memory of Calvin Cafritz. The Washington Harbour purchase, along with a current joint venture to develop a riverfront office and hotel project in Rosslyn, has caused speculation that Conrad Cafritz is increasingly eager to be identified with high-quality, high-profile projects that might bring him more notice. Gradually, he branched into entertainment, operating the first open-air movies in Washington (a matter of setting up chairs in vacant lots), and then a bowling alley and pool hall in Southeast, near the Navy Yard. G Guest 4 hours ago Comment Share T The staff at Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care Inc a day ago We plant this tree as a living memorial to Calvin. "He just wanted to build, build, build, build!" So if some of these nostalgic callers had once doubted or mocked her, with her grand house and her grand airs and her husband's enormous fortune, it was surely too late, in 1986, for any of these social acquaintances to want to shatter this fading legend. Calvins brother Carter passed away in 2019. Obituary. There is still a sign directing deliveries to the back of the house, as if tradesmen were still streaming up to the front door to importune the lady of the house, and Ridgewell's were due at any moment with more shrimp and cocktail sauce. Morris Cafritz incorporated the foundation in 1948 to give money to Washington-area charities, and when he died 16 years later, he left it half his estate, mostly as stock in dozens of closely held corporations; as the new majority owner of most of these companies, and with Gwendolyn owning most of the rest, the foundation became in essence the owner of the Cafritz Co., its subsidiaries and its assets. He had emigrated from Russia as a boy with his family, which stopped briefly in New York before settling down to run a grocery store at 24th and P streets NW. Roger was born on September 30, 1952 in Toulon, the son. This time, the receiving line snaked across the long, low living room to the far wall, where the hostess was displayed in a yellow silk armchair. Gwen Cafritz and her chief rival, Perle Mesta, were in fact the first of a new breed -- celebrity hostesses who openly courted the press and saw no shame in self-promotion. Between 1925 and 1941, Cafritz built more than 85 apartment houses, including 15 large luxury buildings, such as the Majestic and the Hightowers on 16th Street NW and the Westchester on Cathedral Avenue NW. 'Their Financial Needs Are Adequately Provided For'. It took lawyers and IRS agents 4 years to settle the estate, which was valued in 1968 at $66 million. In real estate, especially within the constricting borders of D.C., power isn't limited to those who own the land; controlling the land can be almost as good. Mr. It is a jolting reminder that Peggy and Conrad, a black woman married to a white Jewish millionaire in a racially divided city, represent a fascinating reshuffling of the social deck that produced the polarized marriage of Morris and Gwendolyn. But in the end, her siege of Washington society outlasted most of those limits. Yet he uncomplainingly supported all of Gwendolyn's efforts, and was said to adore his colorful bride. The George Washington University community is remembering the life of Calvin Cafritz, a businessman, philanthropist and longtime supporter of GW. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. Her hair was still a lacquered black, heavily dressed as always at the back of her head. "Carter, he always did what the other two did," says Casey. For another, he is said to alternate in seconds between a manic intensity and a mumbling diffidence. Calvin Cafritz Obituary It is with deep sorrow that we announce the death of Calvin Cafritz (Rockville, Maryland), who passed away on January 12, 2023, at the age of 91, leaving to mourn family and friends. Throughout his career he was recognized not only for his natural intuitive insight but also for his in-depth study and acute analysis of every possibility for investment in real estate. This is in alignment with GW efforts to benefit the local community., Cafritz was a leading force in the establishment of GWs Center for Excellence in Public Leadership (CEPL) in 1997, to help support the D.C. government just as it was coming out of receivership from the U.S. Congress. Washington, DC 20007 As you draw close to the famous burgundy front door, with its surrounding marble, you can see that the paint is cracking and fading to pink; and greenish stains from metal window fixtures are starting to weep down the white brick walls. Obituary | Betty Colvin of Warren, Arkansas | Frazer's Funeral Home Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz were oil and water, a marriage forged out of surprisingly dissonant elements. Beginning with single-family houses, moving on to apartment houses and office buildings, he managed to dodge the Depression and was well positioned to preside over the city's transforming boom during and after World War II (see box, Page 20). Mr. Cafritz was married previously two times; his first wife was Enid Cafritz and his second wife was Joyce Smith. When she drafted her third and last will in 1981, she wrote a final clause that reads almost like an afterthought, but resounds in the lawsuit now underway: "It is my wish that our descendents {sic} shall maintain an interest in the affairs of THE MORRIS AND GWENDOLYN CAFRITZ FOUNDATION and its philanthropic purposes and I desire that, following my death, CALVIN CAFRITZ be elected to serve on the board of the Foundation.". . "That black sense of humor asserts itself, or he'll do something outrageous." There are no events at this time. Send simple, comforting meals with Home Chef. The holdings also include a major share of the two Universal buildings at Connecticut and Florida avenues NW, and shares of the massive River House apartment buildings in Pentagon City. But it has that air of a property just turning past ripeness, toward seed. In 2000, under Mr. Cafritz' leadership, the foundation's board established the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Awards for Distinguished DC Government Employees, an annual program designed to recognize and reward outstanding performance and exemplary service by locally based federal employees. Expand the Memories and Condolences form. Calvin Cafritz (1931-2023) | The Georgetowner The foundation's board of trustees consisted of Gwendolyn Cafritz and the two men who would become her executors -- Atlas and William P. Rogers, her attorney. What do Conrad and Carter Cafritz hope to gain from an arduous legal proceeding that already involves at least 12 law firms and threatens to stretch on for years? "I've just bought 100 acres of downtown Washington," he was fond of saying. Was believed to be 102. He may sometimes have yearned for recognition: One night, after one of the glamorous dinners, he drew a friend of Gwendolyn's away from the dining room and into the kitchen. None of the Cafritz sons can be said to need the money that is at stake. Marvin Katz was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma to Dr. Donald LaVerne Katz and Lila Maxine Katz on December 12, 1935. "Those were her orders: The Scotch should never be let go beneath the neck of the decanter. Cafritz Calvin Cafritz Washington developer and one of the region's leading philanthropists, died Thursday morning, January 12, 2023, at Sibley Memorial Hospital, in Washington, DC. There are no events scheduled. Calvin H. Frazier (February 16, 1915 - September 23, 1972) was an American Detroit blues and country blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. But he's much different from his father, in a lot of ways. Washington Life Magazine: June 2007:WEALTH LIST Cafritz Calvin Cafritz Washington developer and one of the region's leading philanthropists, died Thursday morning, January 12, 2023, at Sibley Memorial Hospital, in Washington, DC. Rogers had served as her personal attorney since her husband, Washington real estate magnate Morris Cafritz, died in 1964. In Memoriam: Calvin Cafritz. Since 1989, Cafritz led the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, a charitable organization named for his parents. 91. She has pressured the Smithsonian to increase the number of minorities in high-ranking positions and has been arrested outside the South African Embassy as a leader of Mother's Day protests there. From the others he solicited their names, bending to murmur prompts into the ear of the star. These two, according to the complaint by Carter and Conrad Cafritz, "exerted undue influence" in Gwendolyn's decision to leave her entire estate to the foundation, of which they are both trustees. She carried her isolation to her grave. He left it as follows: Half to the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. James Edward Cafritz <p>James Edward Cafritz of Bethesda, MD, passed away on Tuesday, December 22, 2020, at the age of 90. If you could walk around to the back, you might look out at the famous view; and you might almost see as far as Southeast D.C., where Morris lies with his in-laws, still waiting.

. The "Cafritz" in the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists Program. "The decanter always had to be full," Dowling says. "She was a classic case," summarizes Vidal. Conrad has six children -- three adopted sons, who were Jennifer's by a first marriage; two daughters with Jennifer; and, with Peggy, 5-year-old Zachary. He warmly greeted staff and fellow philanthropist alike, making no distinction between people. Their complaint challenges her wish to leave all she owned, except for minor bequests, to the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, a charitable trust her husband had established 40 years before. Gradually, as Gwendolyn took command of it, its character changed. She is survived by her daughter Jane Cafritz (Calvin) of Washington, DC, five grandchildren: James Speyer, Irina Rubenstein and . "Carter Cafritz is just a genuine nice fellow," says Raymond Carter, a former vice president of the Cafritz Co. "Conrad is more in the father's mold. (202) 338-4833, Georgetown Media Group. One possible reason for that -- and for any bitterness that might motivate the lawsuit -- is suggested by the suit's underlying argument: "For many years, beginning at a time not precisely known to plaintiffs, but at least by the time of the death of the late Morris Cafritz, the Decedent began suffering from a number of conditions that resulted in physical and mental debilitation," reads the complaint. But it was hard to remember, here, the titanic social ambition that had made her what she was. "I know Atlas hates publicity like poison," says Raymond Carter, a former Cafritz Co. vice president. Ymelda Dixon, who covered many of her parties for the Evening Star, recalls, "They were great parties, because she had the means and the imagination. He also has three children, five grandchildren and three stepchildren. It is easy to imagine that for a son of Morris Cafritz, watching great deals go unmade is a kind of hell. Upon Morris Cafritz's death in 1964, he became president of the Cafritz Co.; and in the first will Gwendolyn wrote, in 1969, which included all three sons, she made Calvin an executor and left him the Foxhall Road house. "She was good to me, and she was a good woman in my eyes," he says. Cafritz is survived by Jane, his third wife, who is a lawyer in the area. She retained the right to will awaythe remaining three-quarters, or $63 million, which sheleft to the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. Distinguished D.C. Government Employees Recognized at Cafritz Awards Gala, Office of Communications & Marketing He was 91. Its annual reports list a fairly traditional, staid set of beneficiaries, and its grants are studied by an advisory board heavily weighted toward the kind of high-profile, high-society arts philanthropy that Gwendolyn favored: Among the members are National Gallery of Art Director J. Carter Brown, retired Smithsonian secretary S. Dillon Ripley and retired librarian of Congress Daniel Boorstin, as well Carolyn Deaver, wife of former White House deputy chief of staff Michael K. Deaver, and a social friend of Gwendolyn's, Mrs. Tazewell Shepard. sales@governmentexecutiveconsultingservices.com, Copyright 2022 Government Executive Consulting Services. It charges that Rogers and Atlas "exerted undue influence" on her decision to leave all her money to the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, and that Gwendolyn herself "lacked testamentary capacity," meaning that she was incapable of writing her will. ", High culture was one of her chosen routes to acceptance. That's why her final victory rather delighted me. ", Gwendolyn reportedly raised her children according to the dictates of her European background -- under the aegis of servants, to be seen and not heard. "He wasn't overly enthused about it, but those were her wishes, and he sort of enjoyed it in a quiet way. In 1962, when it was the product of Morris Cafritz's vision, the largest grants went to the United Jewish Appeal and the Community Chest Federation. Money -- to be sure. One interrogatory demands that Riggs National Bank, which was Gwendolyn's bank, "identify all individuals or facilities that, from 1954 until Gwendolyn Cafritz' death, provided to Gwendolyn Cafritz any care, advice, counseling, or treatment relating to her consumption of alcohol . The most famous of these was the Cafritz Building, at 1625 I; ballyhooed in 1950 as the first "park-at-your-desk" building, it had ramps rising 10 stories at the building's core. There he built the massive River House apartments; his estate eventually sold most of the land for others to develop. The foundation, which Calvin led for over 30 years (after his mother Gwendolyn died in 1988), focuses on programs in the arts and humanities. It is not clear how old he was when he fell for a 19-year-old Hungarian-American beauty named Gwendolyn Detre de Surany; perhaps because she was so much younger than he, Cafritz appears to have habitually understated his age by six or eight years. a medically-induced . The only thing worse might be to watch deals go on without him: Along with becoming chairman of the foundation, Calvin Cafritz has taken the helm of the old Cafritz Co., andis reportedly trying to bring it tonew life. It is a secretive organization: The foundation would answer no questions for this article. For the sons of Gwendolyn Cafritz, to accept her last will and testament would be to allow her, in more than one sense, the last word. James Edward Cafritz Obituary Today, Calvin is foundation chairman. Services Guestbook Condolences. . Unless you are experienced as an estate executor, you probably should hire an attorney. We hoped to let the public know about these outstanding individuals and to send a message to other excellent government employees that their dedication and considerable accomplishments are valued." Mr. Calvin Cafritz, a native and longtime resident of Washington, DC, was born March 29, 1931, as the eldest son of Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz. ", She gave only two parties in the last 15 years of her life -- one in 1978, her first in five years, and the final party in 1986. Click here for full story from WTOP and the Washington Business Journal. And even then, there was always fussing. Calvin Cafritz, D.C. developer, businessman and philanthropist has died There were of course the grand exceptions like the Warburgs, and Walter Lippmann, and Arthur Krock . The Meyer Foundation is sad to learn of the passing of Calvin Cafritz, a Washington-area developer and one of the region's leading philanthropists. Her skin had an unhealthy, pouchy pallor; extending an uncertain hand, she had the air of a dreamer deploying remembered charms. All three stayed in Washington to work at some variation of their father's trade. Most of the band's song titles are too profane for citation in mainstream reviews (or newspaper magazines such as this); one, a song that would surely have outraged the vocalist/guitarist's grandparents, is titled "You Look Like a Jew.". . He never tired of committing himself to this mission, which only grew bigger with time. Mr. Cafritz' grace, elegance, discernment, desire for excellence, and commitment to making the most of every day and every situation will continue to inspire and motivate all who knew and loved him. Michael J. Dowling, who became the Cafritzes' butler in the early '60s, describes a tragically common decline. After college and military service, he rejoined the firm in 1956 and served in various positions, until the death of his father in 1964 when he became President of Cafritz Company, Cafritz Construction Company, and Ambassador, Inc. During his tenure, the companies developed, constructed, and leased a number of additional office buildings in Washington's central business district. Age: 91 years old Also known as: Mr Calvin Cafritz, Calvin Cafritz View Full Report Mobile number ADS View Current Number Landline number (202) 223-3100 Email addresses ccafritz@cafritzfoundation.org Relatives Calvin Cafritz Jane Cafritz Current address 1642 29th St NW, Washington, DC, 20007-2901 See more results for Calvin Cafritz Conrad and Carter Cafritz are pursuing this stake in two ways: One is a lawsuit naming all her beneficiaries and her executors -- William P. Rogers, Martin Atlas and Riggs National Bank. Cafritz was a tireless promoter of the city. The trust was established at the death of Morris Cafritz in June 1964 in the interests of saving estate taxes. . January 27, 2023. Cafritzs encouragement has particularly strengthened the Washington-area communitys appreciation of textiles as a vital form of artistic expression and global cultural heritage.". Peggy Cooper Cafritz, a doyenne of Washington arts and education, who tried to mend many of the city's social and racial wounds, created one of the nation's leading arts-intensive high schools,. Cafritz started by investing in real estate, and was always ready to make a prescient purchase, but his true passion was construction. The complaint further asserts that "when Decedent allegedly executed the purported Will and Codicil that have been offered for probate herein, Decedent lacked a sound and disposing mind and was not capable of executing a valid deed or contract. The house on Foxhall Road, completed in 1938, was explicitly designed to fulfill that ambition. They have helped us to be innovative and to expand. But like all wills, the one now known in probate court as 3035-88 offers more than one legacy, and thus more than one motive. We will miss his gracious and generous presence.. Gwendolyn Cafritz, a leading Washington hostess, died of cancer Tuesday at her home in the capital. He was 91. Gwendolyn left the $14 million landmark to the foundation, with the very Gwendolyn-like wish that it become "a center in which scholars, statesmen and civic leaders may conduct research, conferences, seminars and other func-tions relating to issues of interest tomankind.". In the '70s she became a near-recluse. "There were moments when you wanted to go around and have everybody wear not just a name tag, but a bio,"says their good friend Margaret Lenzner. Recognizably brothers, the youngest of them nearing his fifties, they were a striking presence at the party. Cafritzs passing was confirmed by the charitable organization named after Morris and his wife, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. In relation to real estate, Calvin Cafritz dove deep into area projects over the years like the Riverdale Park Station in Prince Georges County as well as developments at 5333 Connecticut Ave. NW and 1725 I St. NW. When Morris Cafritz died in 1964, his estate was worth $66 million, mostly in the form of stock in dozens of closely held corporations he had established to manage his real estate. Washington, DC 20006. The entire time, he fought with gloves off, publicly charging his rivals with bad faith.