She appears every week on the WETA-TV arts show "Around Town." It is, as always, unclear where her inborn quirkiness shaded into the effects of alcoholism; but many of her friends, in later years, simply came to think of her as "difficult" or "eccentric"; Almost everyone has a story about her forgetting their names, or making some sudden comment of shocking rudeness. Twenty-four years later, when Gwendolyn Cafritz died, her estate consisted of two parts: the marital trust established under Morris's will, and her own property -- the landmark house on Foxhall Road and various real estate, stocks, bonds and savings accounts. Operating under his own banner, Calvin Cafritz Enterprises, he has built both residential and commercial buildings in D.C. and Virginia. 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? Tech Tip: How to Turn Documents and Images into PDFs in Android. Jane Lipton Cafritz was elected in the second half of 2022 to succeed her husband as the foundations president and CEO. Meanwhile, for as long as it takes, Conrad's childhood home turns a sleeping face to Foxhall Road, drapes drawn at all the windows. Write your message of sympathy today. As the hostess had asked, Ridgewell's Caterers heaped the silver platters and chafing dishes with the same filling, fusty food -- the whole poached salmon, the ham and turkey and carved tenderloin; none of the pastas or blackened seafood or grilled vegetables then in fashion. The importance of saying "I love you" during COVID-19, Effective ways of dealing with the grieving process, Solutions to show your sympathy safely during the Covid-19 pandemic, SAGEL BLOOMFIELD DANZANSKY GOLDBERG FUNERAL CARE INC. Throughout the '40s and '50s it was her custom to give a large cocktail reception each spring, and to mark the opening of every fall season with a party honoring the start of the Supreme Court term. Md.-based government contractor relocates headquarters to Fairfax Co. Montgomery County, MD Files Lawsuit Against McKinsey and Company, Inc. for Companys Role in Creating Opioid Epidemic, GSA Seeks Commercial Procurement Data Solution. He was 91. We welcome you to provide your thoughts and memories on our Tribute Wall. In any case, he was at least 20 years older than his bride when they married in 1929. 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. a medically-induced . 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. "Right at the moment he could be most charming, he does something to undercut it," says one friend. There are also real estate assets at Arlingtons 3701 N. Fairfax Drive, which is the former home of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The D.C. community is better for his engagement and we will miss him terribly.. Small wonder that, as he approached his forties unmarried, he was one of the most eligible bachelors within the small, closed circle of Washington's Jewish society. The George Washington University community is remembering the life of Calvin Cafritz, a businessman, philanthropist and longtime supporter of GW. Conrad is angrily aware, say friends, that his success will always be explained away. Send simple, comforting meals with Home Chef. 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. 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 longtime GW supporter had a unique relationship with the university and the city of Washington, D.C. Center for Excellence in Public Leadership, Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service, GW is committed to digital accessibility. In high school, for example, Conrad stood out even among his privileged classmates at St. Albans. His father, one of Washington's leading commercial and residential builders from the early 1920's to the 1960's, distinguished himself as an outstanding civic leader known for generosity. All rights reserved. He was 91. ", While she cultivated the mighty, Morris looked closer to home, helping to found the Washington Community Chest, becoming an activist in local Jewish groups. Senator Barry Goldwater . Calvin Cafritz, D.C. developer and head of the Cafritz Foundation, dies at 91. bizjournals.com - Michael Neibauer 20h. As time went on, she lost complete control, and she had to drink more. ON JUNE 10, 1986, GWENDOLYN D. CAFRITZ GAVE HER LAST PARTY. Calvin Cafritz and the Cafritz Foundation have been part of the GW Honey Nashman Center from its earliest roots in the Office of Community Service and the Neighbors Project in the 1990s through to the present, said Amy Cohen, executive director of the center. The strange paradox of her marriage was that Morris's money enabled her to carry out her lavish social dreams, while the family's being Jewish also placed limits on her chances of realizing them. He warmly greeted staff and fellow philanthropist alike, making no distinction between people. Named in the lawsuit, besides Calvin, is everyone to whom Gwendolyn Cafritz made a bequest, including her former servants and grandchildren, two nephews and an old escort. He was 91. Where he was meat and potatoes, earnest frugality, civic pride, she was flashing dark beauty, mercurial moods and social ambition. 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. 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. Conrad's strategy has been diversity. Cafritz was a native and longtime resident of Washington, DC. "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. In 2001, the Cafritz Foundation gave $1 million toward the Cafritz Conference Center in the University Student Center. He is also survived by his three children, Elliot Cafritz (Lauren), Anthony Cafritz (Pearl), and Elizabeth Peltekian(Viken); five grandchildren, Sam, Alexander, Seb, Aram, and Van; three stepchildren, Olivia Rubenstein, Irina Rubenstein, and James Speyer; and two step-grandchildren Evan and MJSpeyer. To one interviewer she said that art was "the theme, you might say" of her life, "as in a Wagnerian opera." The foundation, among Greater Washingtons largest with more than $400 million in assets and some $65 million in annual revenue and expenses, according to its most recent Form 990, is expected to issue a formal statement in the coming days. Cafritz is survived by his third wife, Jane Lipton Cafritz, a Washington lawyer whom he married in 2000; his three children; three stepchildren (including Olivia Rubenstein, who earned a masters degree from GSEHD in 2018); and numerous grandchildren and step-grandchildren, as well as his brother, Conrad Cafritz, chairman and CEO of Cafritz Interests. They're more like the French salons.". 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. She also made bequests of $100,000 each to 10 of her 13 grandchildren -- excluding the children Conrad adopted, to whom he has remained a committed father. He's truly out to make a big impact on the city, I think. GECS offers business development, bid proposal writing training, and resume preparation services for individuals seeking employment with the Federal Government, and provides knowledge management services to assist businesses with succession planning. For one thing, he has a dark, avowedly cynical sense of humor. Perhaps one day Calvin, or Conrad, or some Cafritz now unknown, will find a way to bring together the opposite forms of ambition that thrived in this house, and give a second start to the dynasty that never was. sales@governmentexecutiveconsultingservices.com, Copyright 2022 Government Executive Consulting Services. ", 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." Calvins father Morris built the now-demolished Ambassador Hotel at 14th and K Streets NW, homes next to the National Arboretum, the Greenwich Forest neighborhood in Bethesda and several office buildings downtown. In 2021 alone some 430 grants were given to 413 nonprofits of all sizes, including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Washington National Opera (through the Cafritz Young Artists of Washington National Opera program), the Phillips Collection, the National Gallery of Art, and countless colleges, universities,and schools throughout the DC area. Money -- to be sure. To Calvin Cafritz, she left the symbolic role of family chief, Morris Cafritz'ssuccessor in a world of primogeniture. 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. He too has denied the sons' allegations in his formal answer to their complaint. Her gown, as in the past, was spectacularly formal: folds of purple satin sweeping to her ankles beneath a fitted bodice. But he reached outside that circle when he finally married. Cafritz started by investing in real estate, and was always ready to make a prescient purchase, but his true passion was construction. "He wasn't overly enthused about it, but those were her wishes, and he sort of enjoyed it in a quiet way. "I know Atlas hates publicity like poison," says Raymond Carter, a former Cafritz Co. vice president. A memorial service will be held at a later date. In plain English, Gwendolyn Cafritz's two younger sons are contending in court that their mother was too feebleminded to write her will; document requests filed in court suggest they may try to prove she was incapacitated by alcoholism. 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. His faith was great enough to lead him into investments that would later seem visionary: He developed the Temple Heights tract at Connecticut and Florida, for example, buying the land in 1945 with developer Charles H. Tompkins and sitting on it for 12 years before selling the northern part for development of the Washington Hilton, and building the two Universal Buildings on the southern part of the site. To Edward R. Murrow, in a 1956 interview, she said that to speak of Washington cocktail parties was "unfair to Washington. To slip out of the speedy traffic on Foxhall Road into the half-circle driveway was to slip back in time. 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. Prepare a personalized obituary for someone you loved.. March 29, 1931 - ", High culture was one of her chosen routes to acceptance. Calvin Cafritz, the eldest son of real estate developer Morris Cafritz, died last week at the age of 91. ", The Cafritzes slept in separate bedrooms, Morris rising at dawn to get to the office. She could no longer make an entrance, of course. They had a large fund-raiser for Jesse Jackson in 1988, and for Conrad's 50th birthday, Peggy gave him an enormous black-tie dinner at home. January 16, 2023, 1:16 AM 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. She was a member of Main Street Church of Christ in Monticello, AR. Small grants went to 15 more Jewish charities, and the rest to such local charities as boys clubs and hospital funds. . From the others he solicited their names, bending to murmur prompts into the ear of the star. ", Interviews suggest the sons will not lack for evidence to support their argument. Site design by, D.C. developer and head of the Cafritz Foundation. Since 1989, Cafritz led the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, a charitable organization named for his parents. In addition, there are at least 10 apartment buildings in D.C. Conrad, say friends, has watched in frustration as downtown Washington boomed and the foundation failed to take maximum advantage of its holdings. 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. Marvin Katz was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma to Dr. Donald LaVerne Katz and Lila Maxine Katz on December 12, 1935. Cafritz developed real estate here for more than four decades, until his death in 1964, and by the sheer volume and variety of his building activities was for a time the undisputed king of his field. In the 1400 block of Spring Road NW is a row of seven almost identical walk-up apartment buildings. But Gwendolyn sometimes took pains to tell friends that she herself was not Jewish. Baron and Baroness Constantine Stackelberg . 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. There is, for example, the very palpable legacy of real estate developed by Morris Cafritz, including several lots and office buildings downtown. There are no events at this time. The judge's decision, though in favor of Conrad and Carter Cafritz, is of little. By the time of her death, however, Calvin was still the son closest to his mother. She had not given a party for eight years, and even then, she had been memorializing the past; the real tradition, the old wine being decanted on this lambent June evening, had been decades in storage. 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. The "Cafritz" in the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists Program. Atlas too declined to comment, but he issued a statement when the suit was filed saying that he had no role in drafting the will, and no advance knowledge of its contents. Washington, DC 20006. He died on Thursday, Jan. 12, at age 91. It is hard to imagine, in this competitive atmosphere, that a single person could have dominated the field as Morris Cafritz once did. Calvin Cafritz Death - Calvin Cafritz, a real estate developer, businessman, and philanthropist in the District of Columbia, passed away on Thursday, January 12, 2023, at Sibley Memorial Hospital. They have helped us to be innovative and to expand. Gradually, as Gwendolyn took command of it, its character changed. In 2021 alone, the foundation awarded some 430 grants to 413 nonprofits. Here, still, was the art moderne house, nearly as startling in 1986 as it had been when Morris Cafritz built it for his young family almost 50 years earlier. In Washington, D.C., when Irene Bloch's husband dies, a character says, "We should build him a monument, and dedicate it to the Unknown Husband. "He got up at 5 or 5:30, and he wanted to show me what a hard-working man he was.". 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. They keep china and glassware sufficient to serve hundreds. Carter appears something of a cipher even to old family associates. CAFRITZ James Edward Cafritz James Edward Cafritz of Bethesda, MD, passed away on Tuesday, December 22, 2020, at the age of 90. Waiters passed shrimp with cocktail sauce, while full bars offered prehistoric spirits such as bourbon and gin, defiant holdouts in the age of chardonnay and bottled water. January 27, 2023. After Morris Cafritz died, his close associate Martin Atlas became executive vice president of the company, and vice president and treasurer of the Cafritz Foundation, while Gwendolyn Cafritz ultimately became president of both. He is survived by his loving and devoted wife, Jane Lipton Cafritz, a distinguished Washington lawyer, whom he married on June 1, 2000. (His first wife, Jennifer, has since married Laughlin Phillips, son of Duncan and Marjorie Phillips and president of the Phillips Collection.). Calvin Cafritz Rockville, Maryland March 29, 1931 - January 12, 2023 Share Obituary: Tribute Wall Obituary & Events Share a memory Send Flowers Obituary An obituary is not available at this time for Calvin Cafritz. Devoted father to Laurence (Sherri) Cafritz and Jodi (Mark Bronsky) Cafr Each is in his second marriage; each is in some way involved in the arts. ", 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. Conrad's strange, and doesn't mind people thinking that he's strange; he kind of encourages it.". Today, Calvin is foundation chairman. When the Duke and Duchess of Windsor came and danced downstairs in "the Club," with the dance floor lighted from below. . Yet Morris made little impression on Gwendolyn's social world, and she often went out or took vacations alone. We will miss his gracious and generous presence.. Some observers speculate that Conrad, hardheaded real estate man that he is, simply wants some say in the disposition of the real estate owned -- in many cases, co-owned -- by the foundation and Gwendolyn's estate. All are multimillionaires, and Conrad Cafritz, by most accounts the prime instigator of the lawsuit, has spun his inheritance from his father into a vast personal fortune of at minimum $100 million. You have funeral questions, we have answers. January 12, 2023 Information and advice to help you cope with the death of someone important to you. In particular, he has carried on an epic feud with Herbert S. Miller, chairman of Western Development Corp. Western won a city contract in 1985 to develop the so-called Portals site at the foot of the 14th Street Bridge, potentially the largest commercial development in the city. Of the three sons, Calvin seems to have had the best relationship with his mother. Echovita offers a solidarity program that gives back the funds generated to families. Of the three Cafritz sons, says restaurateur Herb White, "Conrad seems to be the one who has something to prove to himself.". Her hair was still a lacquered black, heavily dressed as always at the back of her head. A unique and lasting tribute for a loved one. The entire time, he fought with gloves off, publicly charging his rivals with bad faith. At the same time, he and Tompkins had the foresight to buy the land now known as Pentagon City. Calvin Cafritz began his career with Cafritz Construction in 1947, pausing briefly to attend college and serve in the military. He never tired of committing himself to this mission, which only grew bigger with time. Another longtime beneficiary of Cafritz Foundation support has been The Textile Museum. 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. This suit asks the court to overturn her will, after which, under D.C. law, her property would be divided among her sons. We welcome you to provide your thoughts and memories on our Tribute Wall. Asked in 1954 why all her sons bore two-syllable names beginning with "C," she replied, "Morris names all children, horses, dogs, apartment houses and everything around here. 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. Cafritz was a tireless promoter of the city. "Old Washington was very antisemitic, as you know," continues Vidal, whose childhood here as the stepson of lawyer and investor Hugh D. Auchincloss and the grandson of Oklahoma Sen. Thomas Gore gave him an intimate education in Washington society. Your email address will not be published. Through a number of different companies, he both invests in and develops all kinds of properties -- commercial, residential, retail and even industrial. His commitment to causes and institutions extended beyond writing checks to giving time and energy. [2] He is buried in the Washington Hebrew Congregation Cemetery, Washington, D.C. Philanthropy [ edit] By 1967, records show a sprinkling of grants to highbrow cultural causes: the Committee to Rescue Italian Art, the Opera Society of Washington, the Corcoran Gallery. (202) 338-4833, Georgetown Media Group. With him at the helm, the foundation distributed hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to a range of organizations, including the National Gallery of Art, Bread for the City and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Mr. If youre in charge of handling the affairs for a recently deceased loved one, this guide offers a helpful checklist.
. Morris Cafritz is remembered more for the quantity than for the aesthetic quality of his works. Certainly it is Conrad who seems to embody, in one slight frame, the polarities of his parents' lives and personalities. The foundation also gave generously to support the recent GW Hillel building renovation, as well as to provide ongoing support to other civic-minded programs at GW. The mission of the foundation is improving the quality of life for all Washington, D.C., metropolitan-area residents, Boerstling said. Dean Liesl Riddle of the GW College of Professional Studies (CPS), where GW CEPL has been housed since 2005, said, Our college was launched to make an economic and social impact through innovative professional programs that cultivate talent for employers and propel students careers forward. ", 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. In the last half-century, the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation has awarded more than $507 million in grants. Morris grew up working in the store, stalking the Maine Avenue wharf for the freshest fish sold there and learning to love the adolescent city he saw around him. When he died, his estate was the largest ever probated in the District of Columbia. Echovita Inc is a registered trademark. His father, Morris, established one of the Washington region's leading philanthropic entities, the Morris and . In May, Jane Lipton Cafritz hosted a lunch that brought together a number of young opera singers and many of their supporters and admirers. Nor, apparently, is it for us to judge what her sons now want from a D.C. Superior Court judge: All three declined to beinterviewed. Home He died on Thursday, Jan. 12, at age 91. Giving to charity is a meaningful way to honor someone who has died. Their differences were, in fact, a part of their legend, for they were one of the earliest families to bring together the two cities on the Potomac: On the one hand was the ethereal world of social and political Washington -- her world, which venerated either good birth or a seat in the Senate; on the other hand was his world, the corporeal city of sewers and streets and buildings and real citizens, men and women who grew up above grocery stores the way Morris Cafritz had. I hope they will.