Each is in his second marriage; each is in some way involved in the arts. 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. An obituary is not available at this time for Calvin Cafritz. 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. Mr. Cafritz began his career with Cafritz Construction Company in 1947. Tech Tip: How to Turn Documents and Images into PDFs in Android. And it is over the foundation, established to memorialize the name and works of the Cafritz family, that the Cafritz family is now at war. Rachel was a daughter of the late Abraham and Chierney Yarowsky. ", According to friends, her confidence was badly shaken when she was robbed at home in 1969 by gunmen who bound and beat her, stealing most of the spectacular jewelry Morris had given her. "Carter, he always did what the other two did," says Casey. Under an earlier agreement between Gwendolyn and her sons, she gave up her power to "appoint" one-quarter of the trust, meaning that $21 million -- or $7 million each -- would automatically go to her sons upon her death. "Right at the moment he could be most charming, he does something to undercut it," says one friend. To those who thronged to the parties, the children were rarely in evidence. Conrad and his first wife entertained often in their Georgetown house in the '60s, giving parties -- often liberal fund-raisers -- that offered cozy intimations of radical chic. 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. Cafritz's passing was confirmed by the charitable organization named after Morris and his wife, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. "He's creative, he's smart, also ambitious, like his father. "That black sense of humor asserts itself, or he'll do something outrageous." In high school, for example, Conrad stood out even among his privileged classmates at St. Albans. 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. She appears every week on the WETA-TV arts show "Around Town." It was an invitation to stroll around the house and remember: When Gwen Cafritz, with her 19-inch waist and Balmain gowns, her raven hair and regal air, had won constant publicity for her parties -- 22 to dinner, with toasts over champagne, and enormous receptions like this one each spring and fall. He is also survived by his brother Conrad Cafritz, chairman and CEO of Cafritz Interests, a real estate company. We welcome you to provide your thoughts and memories on our Tribute Wall. 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. . 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 . Copyright 2023 Echovita Inc. All rights reserved. (91 years old). 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. Under the terms of an old agreement, each of the sons will automatically receive $7 million, tax-free, in recompense for having forfeited, in the late '60s, some money from a different trust. Marvin Katz was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma to Dr. Donald LaVerne Katz and Lila Maxine Katz on December 12, 1935. He has interests too in a booming brokerage firm he helped bankroll, and in a Midwestern shopping-center conglomerate. Today, Calvin is foundation chairman. 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 was an excellent listener and always got both the big picture and important details by asking insightful questions. Aubinoe and Edwards also designed the Cafritzes' dramatic house on Foxhall Road. Calvin Cafritz Obituary The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation has Died January 17, 2023 Calvin Cafritz Death, Obituary - Calvin Cafritz, the eldest son of Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz, died Thursday at Sibley Memorial Hospital. It asks the court to rule that under Morris's will, which gave Gwendolyn the right to leave the trust to "such person or persons" as she wished, the foundation -- technically a corporation -- could not qualify to receive the trust. Where he was meat and potatoes, earnest frugality, civic pride, she was flashing dark beauty, mercurial moods and social ambition. Marvin Katz Obituary - Richardson, TX - Dignity Memorial Calvin Cafritz Obituary (1931 - 2023) | Rockville, Maryland Morris had one vision, and Gwendolyn another; whoever now gains control might offer still a third. 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. 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. Add a photo or a video 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." ", Other documents filed in court indicate that the sons will argue their mother was incapacitated by alcoholism. 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. sales@governmentexecutiveconsultingservices.com, Copyright 2022 Government Executive Consulting Services. That task was left to her closest relatives. According to Susan Boerstling, GWs assistant vice president for corporate and foundation relations, the partnership of the Cafritz Foundation with GW is unique in terms of other universities in the area. The annual Cafritz Awards Gala has been held on campus for many years, Boerstling noted, representing a partnership between the university, the foundation and the Office of the D.C. Mayor. The judge's decision, though in favor of Conrad and Carter Cafritz, is of little. 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. Mr. Cafritz is also survived by his brother Conrad Cafritz. 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. To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Calvin Cafritz please visit our,

An obituary is not available at this time for Calvin Cafritz. There are, superficially, great similarities among the three brothers, who all share their mother's dark coloring. You can still show your support by sending flowers directly to the family, or plant a tree in memory of Calvin Cafritz. It's surprising how much a musical selection can affect mourning. He began with houses, ultimately building about 10,000 homes in the Washington area. "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. ", Her drinking got out of control, he agrees, shortly after Morris Cafritz's sudden death of a heart attack in 1964. The mission of the foundation is improving the quality of life for all Washington, D.C., metropolitan-area residents, Boerstling said. To Calvin Cafritz, she left the symbolic role of family chief, Morris Cafritz'ssuccessor in a world of primogeniture. Leave a sympathy message to the family in the guestbook on this memorial page of Calvin Cafritz to show support. ", High culture was one of her chosen routes to acceptance. In any case, he was at least 20 years older than his bride when they married in 1929. ", The Cafritzes slept in separate bedrooms, Morris rising at dawn to get to the office. All three had become local real estate developers, successful, if less spectacular, emulators of their father. 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. Calvin Cafritz, D.C. developer and head of the Cafritz Foundation, dies 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. Click here for full story from WTOP and the Washington Business Journal. If you know of an upcoming event for Calvin Cafritz, please add one. About - The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz were oil and water, a marriage forged out of surprisingly dissonant elements. And Gwendolyn's estate is not, in the end, the only -- or even the main thing -- at stake. To slip out of the speedy traffic on Foxhall Road into the half-circle driveway was to slip back in time. 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. If you experience a barrier that affects your ability to access content on this page, let us know via the. 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. The D.C. community is better for his engagement and we will miss him terribly.. "Jews in general just didn't figure. The "Cafritz" in the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists Program. Since 1989, Cafritz led the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, a charitable organization named for his parents. He also is a director. Perhaps the most remarkable member of this third generation is his daughter Julia, who dropped out of Brown University four years ago with a classmate to found a band named Pussy Galore. His father, Morris, established one of the Washington region's leading philanthropic entities, the Morris and . A unique and lasting tribute for a loved one. 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. 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. He left it as follows: Half to the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. Write your message of sympathy today. Of the three sons, Calvin seems to have had the best relationship with his mother. ", 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." Today he shares office space and support staff with Conrad's growing interests, but for the most part pursues his own deals. Calvin Cafritz, the eldest son of real estate developer Morris Cafritz, died last week at the age of 91. There are also real estate assets at Arlingtons 3701 N. Fairfax Drive, which is the former home of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. ", 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. In the 1400 block of Spring Road NW is a row of seven almost identical walk-up apartment buildings. 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. Gwendolyn Cafritz died of cancer last November. Read more on bizjournals.com. Late last year, Calvins wife Jane was elected to succeed her husband as the foundations president and CEO and he was named chairman emeritus. He was 91. He was 91. 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. Says a friend, "He thinks they're a lot of fuddy-duddies living in the 17th century." [2] He is buried in the Washington Hebrew Congregation Cemetery, Washington, D.C. Philanthropy [ edit] "With so-called friends all around her, she was a very lonely woman," says Dowling. Authorize the publication of the original written obituary with the accompanying photo. In May, Jane Lipton Cafritz hosted a lunch that brought together a number of young opera singers and many of their supporters and admirers. She was forever trying to tell me some long story I could never make head or tail of. 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. His class yearbook is littered with references to his family's money; in a list at the back of "most likely" candidates, the last two entries read, "Most Likely to Succeed: Johnson, Clague," and "Doesn't Have To: Cafritz. To plant trees in memory, please visit the. 5.8K. In the last half-century, the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation has awarded more than $507 million in grants. He was for years the president of the Jewish Community Center and donated the land for its first headquarters on Q Street NW. In the past two decades Washington has been one of the hottest real estate markets in the country, building new fortunes, multiplying old ones, constantly attracting new players from other cities. He resigned seven years later to form Cafritz Enterprises. Was believed to be 102. And he still fights his battles with a surprising intensity, rarely bothering with the shake-hands-and-forget-it bonhomie common in Washington business. Cafritz died in 1964 of a heart attack. "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. The Morris and. 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. In 1971, Mr. Cafritz resigned to form Calvin Cafritz Enterprises, with investments in aviation, communications, and Washington area real estate. 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. ", 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. Prepare a personalized obituary for someone you loved.. March 29, 1931 - 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. 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. 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.". They charge in their suit that Rogers and Atlas influenced her to leave all the property she controlled to the foundation. Philanthropic 50: Calvin and Jane Cafritz: They Sing For More Than They have helped us to be innovative and to expand. She is survived by her daughter Jane Cafritz (Calvin) of Washington, DC, five grandchildren: James Speyer, Irina Rubenstein and . Her hair was still a lacquered black, heavily dressed as always at the back of her head. 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.". 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. Her two younger sons have also filed a separate petition that pursues only the marital trust. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a contribution to a charity of your choice. Another longtime beneficiary of Cafritz Foundation support has been The Textile Museum. From the others he solicited their names, bending to murmur prompts into the ear of the star. 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. 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.