. In May, Jane Lipton Cafritz hosted a lunch that brought together a number of young opera singers and many of their supporters and admirers. ", Gwendolyn reportedly raised her children according to the dictates of her European background -- under the aegis of servants, to be seen and not heard. 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. 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. Of the three Cafritz sons, says restaurateur Herb White, "Conrad seems to be the one who has something to prove to himself.". Mr. Cafritz recognized and championed this work, and its success is a part of his inspiring legacy., Throughout the years, he gave feedback constructively and in a helpful manner, said Jim Robinson, executive director of GW CEPL. Mr. But he reached outside that circle when he finally married. He has interests too in a booming brokerage firm he helped bankroll, and in a Midwestern shopping-center conglomerate. She left $25,000 to a favorite former escort, a Brazilian former employee of the Inter-American Development Bank who now lives in Rio de Janeiro. ", Conrad Cafritz is, in a word fondly used by friends, weird. 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. Calvin Cafritz, D.C. developer and head of the Cafritz Foundation, dies 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. sales@governmentexecutiveconsultingservices.com, Copyright 2022 Government Executive Consulting Services. Echovita Inc is a registered trademark. 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. 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. With support from the Cafritz Foundation, the Center for Excellence in Public Leadership hosts a yearly awards gala to honor D.C. government employees who demonstrate outstanding public service. Calvin Cafritz, the eldest son of real estate developer Morris Cafritz, died last week at the age of 91. Mr. There are no events at this time. 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. "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. Calvin Cafritz, D.C. developer and head of the Cafritz Foundation, dies He is survived by his loving and devoted wife, Jane Lipton Cafritz, a distinguished Washington lawyer, whom he married on June 1, 2000. Calvin, Carter and Conrad, all of Washington, and 13 grandchildren. He is a leading supporter of the Global India Fund, and the Ukapav Indian-American Scholarship Foundation. Even as the chaos of wartime Washington started to loosen social strictures, Washington's leading hostess, Evalyn Walsh McLean, stopped entertaining; this opening, together with a boost from Eleanor "Cissy" Patterson, publisher of the Washington Times-Herald, gave Gwendolyn her opportunity. a medically-induced . "He's creative, he's smart, also ambitious, like his father. For another, he is said to alternate in seconds between a manic intensity and a mumbling diffidence. But it has that air of a property just turning past ripeness, toward seed. "Decedent's condition deteriorated after the death of her husband in 1964 and grew worse in the following years. Among the guests that June evening were her three sons, Calvin, Carter and Conrad. 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. I just make speeches.". 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. 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. "He just wanted to build, build, build, build!" The holdings in downtown Washington include buildings in the 1700 and 1800 blocks of K Street and a parking lot at 12th and K; buildings in the 1300 and 1600 blocks of L Street; property in the 1600, 1700 and 1800 blocks of I Street. In 1904, with a $1,400 loan from his father, he started out running a coal yard at Fourth and K streets NW, then a saloon near Fourth and O. Calvin Frazier - Wikipedia The George Washington University community is remembering the life of Calvin Cafritz, a businessman, philanthropist and longtime supporter of GW. The house was not so much well-tended as beautifully preserved, arrested in time; and the party duplicated the past in every anachronistic detail. 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. 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. But Conrad has rolled out impressive legal artillery, captained by former White House counsel Lloyd N. Cutler, and seems prepared to dig in for a long siege -- at least long enough, perhaps, to wring a settlement from his opponents. Washington, DC 20007 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. About - The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation In addition to his loving family, he leaves behind a long-time member of the family household, Lilian Punzalan, and countless admiring friends. 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. Where he was meat and potatoes, earnest frugality, civic pride, she was flashing dark beauty, mercurial moods and social ambition. Kateryna Pyatybratova directs the centers Cafritz Awards program. She appears every week on the WETA-TV arts show "Around Town." . As time went on, she lost complete control, and she had to drink more. 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. 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. "I think he went along," says a longtime business associate, Irwin Altman. Ridgewell's had produced, out of retirement, the same waiter who had announced the guests eight years before. We will miss his gracious and generous presence.. When the Duke and Duchess of Windsor came and danced downstairs in "the Club," with the dance floor lighted from below. He was "greatly respected and liked, even in an antisemitic society," recalls Dixon. Here, beyond the threshold, was the stunning circular entrance hall, dramatic enough to live up to the woman who once swept down the stairs to greet her guests. Once grown, the sons established limited, perfunctory contacts with their mother. The family observed Jewish holidays, and the sons attended religious school at Washington Hebrew Congregation on weekends. Obituary. Gradually, as Gwendolyn took command of it, its character changed. This suit asks the court to overturn her will, after which, under D.C. law, her property would be divided among her sons. Another longtime beneficiary of Cafritz Foundation support has been The Textile Museum. 5.8K. He's truly out to make a big impact on the city, I think. All of their lives, the Cafritz boys have been aware of their status as the sons of Morris and Gwendolyn. "Conrad was persistent as hell in getting that project," says one person familiar with Conrad's business. "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. Giving to charity is a meaningful way to honor someone who has died. 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. Obituary | Betty Colvin of Warren, Arkansas | Frazer's Funeral Home January 27, 2023. Her gown, as in the past, was spectacularly formal: folds of purple satin sweeping to her ankles beneath a fitted bodice. For him, philanthropy required partnerships that are broad, diverse, and extensive. 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. James Edward Cafritz <p>James Edward Cafritz of Bethesda, MD, passed away on Tuesday, December 22, 2020, at the age of 90. "Right at the moment he could be most charming, he does something to undercut it," says one friend. But it was a heady enough wine to call out 300 guests, and the ghosts of many more who had preceded them. Calvin's younger brothers, Conrad and Carter, are behind-the- scenes players in many business and charitable ventures players. ", While she cultivated the mighty, Morris looked closer to home, helping to found the Washington Community Chest, becoming an activist in local Jewish groups. At the same time, he and Tompkins had the foresight to buy the land now known as Pentagon City. None of the Cafritz sons can be said to need the money that is at stake. Published by The Washington Post on Jan. 22, 2023. Michael J. Dowling, who became the Cafritzes' butler in the early '60s, describes a tragically common decline. 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. 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." An obituary is not available at this time for Calvin Cafritz. What do the younger sons of the celebrated Washington hostess hope to gain by waging legal war over their mother's will? ", She kept up appearances even in the privacy of her home, where she drank Scotch from a decanter in the living room. 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. Gwendolyn Cafritz died of cancer last November. Mr. Cafritz is also survived by his brother Conrad Cafritz. And he still fights his battles with a surprising intensity, rarely bothering with the shake-hands-and-forget-it bonhomie common in Washington business. Her two younger sons have also filed a separate petition that pursues only the marital trust. He was the eldest son of real estate titan Morris Cafritz and his wife Gwendolyn. 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. Mild, self-effacing, decorous, humble, and unfailingly courteous, Mr. Cafritz led by example and always with a smile. Baron and Baroness Constantine Stackelberg .

. They keep china and glassware sufficient to serve hundreds. The Morris and. "Very sort of philosophic, sort of honorable." 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. In 2021 alone, the foundation awarded some 430 grants to 413 nonprofits. In 2001, the Cafritz Foundation gave $1 million toward the Cafritz Conference Center in the University Student Center. "She was a classic case," summarizes Vidal. 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. . Morris Cafritz is remembered more for the quantity than for the aesthetic quality of his works. Implicitly, Carter and Conrad Cafritz are also challenging her designation of Calvin, the eldest, as the only son who will have a future role in running the foundation, which already controls assets of more than $220 million. Services Guestbook Condolences. 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. There are also real estate assets at Arlingtons 3701 N. Fairfax Drive, which is the former home of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Calvin Cafritz Obituary recalls Raymond Carter, a former vice president of the Cafritz Co. "He always had a new job going. Yet Morris made little impression on Gwendolyn's social world, and she often went out or took vacations alone. She was born January 30, 1936 in Kennett, MO to the late David Richard Roberts and Betty Burbank Roberts. 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. All three had become local real estate developers, successful, if less spectacular, emulators of their father. 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. Home Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz were oil and water, a marriage forged out of surprisingly dissonant elements. Jane Lipton Cafritz was elected in the second half of 2022 to succeed her husband as the foundations president and CEO. An old friend remembers a Fourth of July party at which one or more of the boys stood in a window above the path that led indoors from the pool to the cocktail area, throwing firecrackers down onto the guests. (202) 338-4833, Georgetown Media Group. Cafritz was a tireless promoter of the city. Following the death of his father, Calvin became president of The Cafritz Co., Cafritz Construction Co. and Ambassador, Inc. in 1964. 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. For one thing, he has a dark, avowedly cynical sense of humor. To Calvin Cafritz, she left the symbolic role of family chief, Morris Cafritz'ssuccessor in a world of primogeniture. Receive obituaries from the city or cities of your choice. Calvin Cafritz Obituary (1931 - 2023) | Rockville, Maryland The mission of the foundation is improving the quality of life for all Washington, D.C., metropolitan-area residents, Boerstling said. "Conrad is really an anomaly," says lawyer and real estate developer Donald Brown. 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. 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. Today, Calvin is foundation chairman. It is easy to imagine that for a son of Morris Cafritz, watching great deals go unmade is a kind of hell. We welcome you to provide your thoughts and memories on our Tribute Wall. The Cafritz Foundation is also a longtime supporter of GWs Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service. 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. He never tired of committing himself to this mission, which only grew bigger with time. Calvins brother Carter passed away in 2019. They charge in their suit that Rogers and Atlas influenced her to leave all the property she controlled to the foundation. 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. ON JUNE 10, 1986, GWENDOLYN D. CAFRITZ GAVE HER LAST PARTY. "Calvin is a very sweet, very nice person," says D.C. lawyer Max N. Berry. Echovita offers a solidarity program that gives back the funds generated to families. Distinguished D.C. Government Employees Recognized at Cafritz Awards Gala, Office of Communications & Marketing JAMES CAFRITZ Obituary (1930 - 2020) - Rockville, DC - The Washington Post Then there is the charitable legacy. It is a secretive organization: The foundation would answer no questions for this article. Calvins father Morris built the now-demolished Ambassador Hotel at 14. and K Streets NW, homes next to the National Arboretum, the Greenwich Forest neighborhood in Bethesda and several office buildings downtown. She was 78 years old. Unless you are experienced as an estate executor, you probably should hire an attorney. Expand the Memories and Condolences form. While he was head of the foundation, Cafritz distributed grants to places like The National Gallery of Art, Washington National Opera and The Kennedy Center. He was 91 at the time he died. ", High culture was one of her chosen routes to acceptance. 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. A memorial service will be held at a later date.

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