The house on Foxhall Road, completed in 1938, was explicitly designed to fulfill that ambition. Each is in his second marriage; each is in some way involved in the arts. James Edward Cafritz Obituary "Carter, he always did what the other two did," says Casey. Senator Barry Goldwater . 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. In the 21st century, it's not just urns and gravestones anymore. When the Cafritzes' back terrace offered the most celebrated view of the city, southeast, past the swimming pool and rolling lawn, all the way to the Capitol. That's what we call a success story. What do the younger sons of the celebrated Washington hostess hope to gain by waging legal war over their mother's will? For another, he is said to alternate in seconds between a manic intensity and a mumbling diffidence. 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. But of the property over which she had control, Gwendolyn left her children only "such photographs, family mementos, and similar objects of domestic use or ornamentation as my executors, in their absolute discretion, shall determine that I would wish to have preserved for my children.". There were of course the grand exceptions like the Warburgs, and Walter Lippmann, and Arthur Krock . 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.". 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 just wanted to build, build, build, build!" Find Calvin Cafritz obituaries and memorials at Legacy.com Calvin Cafritz obituary - fskhub.com 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. When he died, his estate would be the largest ever probated in the District of Columbia; it would take teams of lawyers and IRS agents four years to settle the estate, finally valued in 1968 at $66 million. Following the death of his father, Calvin became president of The Cafritz Co., Cafritz Construction Co. and Ambassador, Inc. in 1964. . He often conveyed his conviction that believing in a cause obligated one to support it financially. 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. In Remembrance. Calvin Cafritz, their eldest son, became Board Chairman in 1989 and in 1993, he was elected President and CEO of the Foundation. Special Neighborhood Hang Out: Say Cheese! All three had become local real estate developers, successful, if less spectacular, emulators of their father. Rogers, an attorney general under President Eisenhower and secretary of state under Richard Nixon, declined to be interviewed for this story; he has denied the allegations in papers filed in court. The majority of this property was already owned by the Cafritz Foundation, but Gwendolyn was partial owner of many of the buildings; even a limited power to control their disposition would presumably attract men with ambitions in Washington real estate. a medically-induced . The foundation is Washington's largest source of private funds earmarked exclusively for local projects, large enough to give the person who controls it a potentially shaping influence on the city. He is a leading supporter of the Global India Fund, and the Ukapav Indian-American Scholarship Foundation. 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. He was 91. Prepare a personalized obituary for someone you loved.. March 29, 1931 - D.C. developer, businessman and philanthropist Calvin Cafritz, the eldest son of real estate icon Morris Cafritz and his wife Gwendolyn, died . 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. 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. Peggy, the product of a well-to-do black family from Mobile, Ala., has worked especially at promoting arts in the black community: She almost single-handedly founded the Duke Ellington School for the Arts and was Marion Barry's first chairman of the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities. 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. But Carter and Conrad Cafritz are not named in their mother's will. The judge's decision, though in favor of Conrad and Carter Cafritz, is of little. And given the life she had lived and the kind of friends she had cultivated, few people were close enough to her to understand why. He left it as follows: Half to the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. ", 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. It is hard to imagine, in this competitive atmosphere, that a single person could have dominated the field as Morris Cafritz once did. At the least, then, Gwendolyn's will disposes of more than $140 million. Devoted father to Laurence (Sherri) Cafritz and Jodi (Mark Bronsky) Cafr 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. He also is a director. 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. The "Cafritz" in the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists Program. He started by buying -- for $700,000, in 1922 -- the equivalent of 90 city blocks in Petworth, including the Columbia Golf Club, and ultimately built 3,000 houses there. Devoted father to Laurence (Sherri) Cafritz and Jodi (Mark Bronsky) Cafritz; cherished grandfather to Daniel, Ryan, Jeremy, Jack and Mick; beloved friend of first wife Sandie Cafritz; loving brother to the late William (Buffy) Cafritz; treasured uncle to Sandy (Helen . Your email address will not be published. A unique and lasting tribute for a loved one. 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. "She was a classic case," summarizes Vidal. 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. Giving to charity is a meaningful way to honor someone who has died. He was elected to the Board of Directors of the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation in December 1988 and since February 1989 had served as Board Chairman. "She was not, as they say, invited anywhere at the beginning," recalls Gore Vidal, whose novel Washington, D.C. includes a character "suggested," he says, by Gwendolyn Cafritz. When the Duke and Duchess of Windsor came and danced downstairs in "the Club," with the dance floor lighted from below. In 1929 he also built the since-demolished Ambassador Hotel, at 14th and K streets NW, where he and his family lived until 1938. ", She kept up appearances even in the privacy of her home, where she drank Scotch from a decanter in the living room. At the same time, he and Tompkins had the foresight to buy the land now known as Pentagon City. ", Her drinking got out of control, he agrees, shortly after Morris Cafritz's sudden death of a heart attack in 1964. Her statements in the press, even the adoring press of yore, suggest at the least a daunting mother. Since 1989, Cafritz led the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, a charitable organization named for his parents. She appears every week on the WETA-TV arts show "Around Town." And even then, there was always fussing. Conrad and Carter Cafritz are claiming that Rogers and Atlas "secured domination and control" over Gwendolyn, controlling all of her assets and making her the figurehead president of both the foundation and the real estate businesses, "notwithstanding that she was, and Defendants Atlas and Rogers knew she was, incapable of discharging the duties incumbent upon her in such positions." Click here for full story from WTOP and the Washington Business Journal. She retained the right to will awaythe remaining three-quarters, or $63 million, which sheleft to the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. Meanwhile, for as long as it takes, Conrad's childhood home turns a sleeping face to Foxhall Road, drapes drawn at all the windows. It is a secretive organization: The foundation would answer no questions for this article. 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. Comment * document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "a33c63ad631098ddb002d9da023fc09f" );document.getElementById("gab125c3ec").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. 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 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 is a poignant moment in Gwendolyn's 1956 interview with Murrow when she points out a portrait of herself that hangs on the wall. Today, he is married to Peggy Cooper Cafritz, who is a local power in the arts and in liberal political causes -- and the only Cafritz listed in Who's Who. "He took me into the kitchen and showed me how the cook would leave coffee for him in the morning," remembers the friend. ", 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." He has always been involved in the bread and butter real estate of housing, from building single-family homes in Prince William County to renovating apartment complexes in Alexandria; he was a major beneficiary of the Washington condo boom. She is survived by her daughter Jane Cafritz (Calvin) of Washington, DC, five grandchildren: James Speyer, Irina Rubenstein and . Receive obituaries from the city or cities of your choice. In the last half-century, the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation has awarded more than $507 million in grants. 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. "I know Atlas hates publicity like poison," says Raymond Carter, a former Cafritz Co. vice president. 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. There are also real estate assets at Arlingtons 3701 N. Fairfax Drive, which is the former home of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. About - The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Cafritzs passing was confirmed by the charitable organization named after Morris and his wife, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. "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. Kateryna Pyatybratova directs the centers Cafritz Awards program. The entire time, he fought with gloves off, publicly charging his rivals with bad faith. 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. ", High culture was one of her chosen routes to acceptance. 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. In his later years he established one of the Washington region's leading philanthropic entities, the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. ", 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. He was 91. CAFRITZ James Edward Cafritz James Edward Cafritz of Bethesda, MD, passed away on Tuesday, December 22, 2020, at the age of 90. Recommend Calvin's obituary to your friends. The same plain white damask draped the table, with plain white damask napkins tied around settings of her heavy Georg Jensen flatware. The control of so much money, especially in a city with limited corporate philanthropy, brings enormous power. Calvin Cafritz (1931-2023) | The Georgetowner But public records show that, like any organization privately controlled by a very small number of people, it is very susceptible to change by a determined leader. Perhaps as a result, he works hard, with much of Morris's old drive. 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. Except for minor bequests to former employees and other family members, she also left to the foundation all of the property she owned outright. Rogers had served as her personal attorney since her husband, Washington real estate magnate Morris Cafritz, died in 1964. . Calvin's younger brothers, Conrad and Carter, are behind-the- scenes players in many business and charitable ventures players. 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. "Getting along with her," says one developer who knows the family, "was something none of them ever mastered. "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. Calvin Cafritz, developer and head of the Cafritz Foundation, dies He too has denied the sons' allegations in his formal answer to their complaint. Cafritzs encouragement has particularly strengthened the Washington-area communitys appreciation of textiles as a vital form of artistic expression and global cultural heritage.". He is survived by his loving and devoted wife, Jane Lipton Cafritz, a distinguished Washington lawyer, whom he married on June 1, 2000. In the '70s she became a near-recluse. Despite leaving a fragmented recording history, both as a singer and guitarist, Frazier was an associate of Robert Johnson, and recorded alongside Johnny Shines, Sampson Pittman, T.J. Fowler, Alberta Adams, Jimmy Milner, Baby Boy Warren, Boogie Woogie . Calvin R Cafritz, (202) 223-3100, 1642 29th St NW, Washington, DC The D.C. community is better for his engagement and we will miss him terribly.. ", Gwendolyn reportedly raised her children according to the dictates of her European background -- under the aegis of servants, to be seen and not heard. Mr. Cafritz began his career with Cafritz Construction Company in 1947. Mr. Cafritz was married previously two times; his first wife was Enid Cafritz and his second wife was Joyce Smith. 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 family observed Jewish holidays, and the sons attended religious school at Washington Hebrew Congregation on weekends. 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. Influence over the city's future -- no doubt. To plant trees in memory, please visit the. 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. And {Gwendolyn} was just considered comical, and there were a lot of jokes about her. But almost no one seems to doubt that Conrad is the main force behind it. ", Gwendolyn's estate is worth at least $140 million, including both her personal holdings and a trust passed on from Morris Cafritz's will (see box, Page 32). "He's creative, he's smart, also ambitious, like his father. In Memoriam: Calvin Cafritz | GW Today | The George Washington University But in the end, her siege of Washington society outlasted most of those limits. We welcome you to provide your thoughts and memories on our Tribute Wall. 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. Calvins brother Carter passed away in 2019. 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. James Edward Cafritz <p>James Edward Cafritz of Bethesda, MD, passed away on Tuesday, December 22, 2020, at the age of 90. Another longtime beneficiary of Cafritz Foundation support has been The Textile Museum. "I think it has the clean linear design of a Botticelli, and the elegance of an English portrait," she burbles, in her faintly accented great-lady voice, "and that's the way I would like my children to remember me.
