calvin cafritz obituary
The India-born founder and CEO of District-based software company Hunch Analytics is an active benefactor of both Washington and Indian causes and nonprofit groups. 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. 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. All rights reserved. Aubinoe and Edwards also designed the Cafritzes' dramatic house on Foxhall Road. To Calvin Cafritz, she left the symbolic role of family chief, Morris Cafritz'ssuccessor in a world of primogeniture. She could no longer make an entrance, of course. Through his dedication to the Foundation and his beloved Washington, DC community, Mr. Cafritz was deeply committed to building a more just and beautiful region with access to opportunities for all. 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. James Edward Cafritz <p>James Edward Cafritz of Bethesda, MD, passed away on Tuesday, December 22, 2020, at the age of 90. It is easy to imagine that for a son of Morris Cafritz, watching great deals go unmade is a kind of hell. Cafritzs passing was confirmed by the charitable organization named after Morris and his wife, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. It's surprising how much a musical selection can affect mourning. "He took me into the kitchen and showed me how the cook would leave coffee for him in the morning," remembers the friend. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a contribution to a charity of your choice. It is hard not to wonder what the effect might have been of hearing Gwendolyn Cafritz's will read for the first time. He is a leading supporter of the Global India Fund, and the Ukapav Indian-American Scholarship Foundation. You have funeral questions, we have answers. "He got up at 5 or 5:30, and he wanted to show me what a hard-working man he was.". 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. 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. Mr. Cafritz was married previously two times; his first wife was Enid Cafritz and his second wife was Joyce Smith. 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. 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. . CALVIN CAFRITZ, CARTER CAFRITZ, CONRAD CAFRITZ WILLIAM CAFRITZ AND BUFFY CAFRITZ The Cafritz name has been a Washington fi xture for almost a century, with Morris and Gwen Cafritz's 1937 Foxhall Road mansion an epicenter of D.C. social life. From the others he solicited their names, bending to murmur prompts into the ear of the star. To one interviewer she said that art was "the theme, you might say" of her life, "as in a Wagnerian opera." 2017-2023 Tribute Archive. ", Her drinking got out of control, he agrees, shortly after Morris Cafritz's sudden death of a heart attack in 1964. The D.C. community is better for his engagement and we will miss him terribly.. All Rights Reserved. Mild, self-effacing, decorous, humble, and unfailingly courteous, Mr. Cafritz led by example and always with a smile. Money -- to be sure. Calvin's younger brothers, Conrad and Carter, are behind-the- scenes players in many business and charitable ventures players. "The boys used to make a joke of their mother. Calvin Cafritz, a successful businessman, was involved in real estate for more than fifty years. Several friends read this changeability as part of a larger ambivalence about whether he wants to be an insider or a maverick, heir to a famous tradition or the rebel who subverts it. a medically-induced . In high school, for example, Conrad stood out even among his privileged classmates at St. Albans. . Gwendolyn Cafritz died of cancer last November. 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. Her skin had an unhealthy, pouchy pallor; extending an uncertain hand, she had the air of a dreamer deploying remembered charms. Calvins brother Carter passed away in 2019. 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,. Yet in Morris's absence, the family was anything but the tight-knit dynasty he had paved the way for. The George Washington University community is remembering the life of Calvin Cafritz, a businessman, philanthropist and longtime supporter of GW. 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. Of the three Cafritz sons, says restaurateur Herb White, "Conrad seems to be the one who has something to prove to himself.". 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. 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. Mr. Cafritz began his career with Cafritz Construction Company in 1947. In Remembrance. 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. The best poems for funerals, memorial services., and cards. 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 . He is survived by his loving and devoted wife, Jane Lipton Cafritz, a distinguished Washington lawyer, whom he married on June 1, 2000. He warmly greeted staff and fellow philanthropist alike, making no distinction between people. recalls Raymond Carter, a former vice president of the Cafritz Co. "He always had a new job going. Add a photo or a video . The family observed Jewish holidays, and the sons attended religious school at Washington Hebrew Congregation on weekends. 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. ", While she cultivated the mighty, Morris looked closer to home, helping to found the Washington Community Chest, becoming an activist in local Jewish groups. "I'm sure part of it was to show Herb Miller he was serious.". ", Interviews suggest the sons will not lack for evidence to support their argument. 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. Since 1989, Cafritz led the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, a charitable organization named for his parents. His most notable contribution was in the streamlined art deco apartment houses designed, either singly or together, by architects Alvin L. Aubinoe and Harry L. Edwards, including the Majestic, the Hightowers, the Empire and the since-demolished Gwenwood on 19th Street NW. "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. In the '70s she became a near-recluse. 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. "Conrad was persistent as hell in getting that project," says one person familiar with Conrad's business. 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). Each is in his second marriage; each is in some way involved in the arts. Leave a sympathy message to the family in the guestbook on this memorial page of Calvin Cafritz to show support. As he stood by her chair, he could name at a glance quite a few of the guests -- Chief Justice and Mrs. Warren Burger . She was born January 30, 1936 in Kennett, MO to the late David Richard Roberts and Betty Burbank Roberts. We welcome you to provide your thoughts and memories on our Tribute Wall. He was the eldest son of real estate titan Morris Cafritz and his wife Gwendolyn. "Getting along with her," says one developer who knows the family, "was something none of them ever mastered. 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. And in the two decades of her advocacy, she has established a high profile -- and raised a lot of hackles among the old guard that runs most of the city's major cultural institutions. Food has always been a go-to for people in mourning. But he's much different from his father, in a lot of ways. Receive obituaries from the city or cities of your choice. 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 . Cafritz is survived by Jane, his third wife, who is a lawyer in the area. 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. By the time of her death, however, Calvin was still the son closest to his mother. There was no one she would not invite to dinner, sometimes calling the offices of Cabinet secretaries to ask for any day in the next year when the secretary would be free. There is, for example, the very palpable legacy of real estate developed by Morris Cafritz, including several lots and office buildings downtown. "She was a classic case," summarizes Vidal. 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. "Watch Washington Grow to One Million," he urged in newspaper ads of the '40s, a slogan he changed to "Watch Washington Grow to Two Million" after the 1950 census counted more than 1.4 million in the metropolitan area. Mr. 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. He also is a director. There are no events scheduled. Ridgewell's had produced, out of retirement, the same waiter who had announced the guests eight years before. 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. Washington, DC 20006. 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. At seated dinners for 22, she entertained ambassadors and justices, senators and Cabinet secretaries. 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. . For one thing, he has a dark, avowedly cynical sense of humor. A minor but colorful part of Cafritz's legacy was an idea borrowed from Harry Wardman, his predecessor as the leader of the field. 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 wasn't overly enthused about it, but those were her wishes, and he sort of enjoyed it in a quiet way. 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. To Edward R. Murrow, in a 1956 interview, she said that to speak of Washington cocktail parties was "unfair to Washington. For better or worse, he is the son who has tried to live out both their ambitions -- to build on a scale that will make an impact on the city, and to develop a persona that will make him an actor in the capital. "That what she wanted was pointless is not for us to judge.". "When I heard about it, I wrote Conrad and told him I thought it was a horrible thing he and his brother were doing to his mother," says Dorothy L. Casey, a retired secretary who worked for the Cafritz Co. for decades, reflecting a widespread tendency to speak of Carter as his brother's satellite. For him, philanthropy required partnerships that are broad, diverse, and extensive. He was 91 at the time he died. Her statements in the press, even the adoring press of yore, suggest at the least a daunting mother. 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. So he began buying real estate speculatively, and in 1920 opened a real estate office on 15th Street NW. 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 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. Your email address will not be published. When he died, his estate was the largest ever probated in the District of Columbia. 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. 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. But almost no one seems to doubt that Conrad is the main force behind it. sales@governmentexecutiveconsultingservices.com, Copyright 2022 Government Executive Consulting Services. She was multilingual and had studied art history at the University of Budapest. "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. 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. Gwendolyn Cafritz, a leading Washington hostess, died of cancer Tuesday at her home in the capital. Echovita offers a solidarity program that gives back the funds generated to families. 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. [2] He is buried in the Washington Hebrew Congregation Cemetery, Washington, D.C. Philanthropy [ edit] The house was not so much well-tended as beautifully preserved, arrested in time; and the party duplicated the past in every anachronistic detail. 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. 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. 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. We will miss his gracious and generous presence.. His father, Morris, established one of the Washington region's leading philanthropic entities, the Morris and . "Lots of times she could drink and she knew exactly what she was doing. "He's part of a legendary family, and he's the only one who seems interested in keeping up the legend," says one friend. He was 91. Marvin LaVerne Katz, 83, of Dallas, Texas, passed away on November 22, 2019 in Dallas. Marvin Katz was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma to Dr. Donald LaVerne Katz and Lila Maxine Katz on December 12, 1935. And Gwendolyn's estate is not, in the end, the only -- or even the main thing -- at stake. Devoted father to Laurence (Sherri) Cafritz and Jodi (Mark Bronsky) Cafr It has been variously reviewed as "one of the more important bands to emerge from the new head-slamming school of American guitar/noise bands" and "the gnarliest, most scuzzed out molotov to hit the streets since the heady days of Teenage Jesus and The Jerks." Real estate was more than mortgages and refi nancing in the Cafritzian heyday; it was empire building . 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. Home 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." They're more like the French salons.". 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. "He just wanted to build, build, build, build!" He was 91. 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 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.". He also has three children, five grandchildren and three stepchildren. 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. Her two younger sons have also filed a separate petition that pursues only the marital trust. 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. 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. The mission of the foundation is improving the quality of life for all Washington, D.C., metropolitan-area residents, Boerstling said. He has assembled a group of about 14 local hotels, including the Georgetown Inn and One Washington Circle. Cafritz died in 1964 of a heart attack. (91 years old). Cafritz's passing was confirmed by the charitable organization named after Morris and his wife, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. To Martin Atlas, she left $50,000 and a Chagall painting. 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. 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. 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. Echovita Inc is a registered trademark. Was believed to be 102. 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." That's why her final victory rather delighted me. 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.
. They keep china and glassware sufficient to serve hundreds. Her hair was still a lacquered black, heavily dressed as always at the back of her head. "Maybe we try a little harder because our family name is well-known," he told a reporter in 1965. A unique and lasting tribute for a loved one. He is also survived by his brother Conrad Cafritz, chairman and CEO of Cafritz Interests, a real estate company. The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, the charitable organization Calvin Cafritz had led since 1989, confirmed his passing and provided a copy of his obituary, which didnt disclose cause of death. The Cafritz Foundation is also responsible for developing Art Place at Fort Totten, a huge mixed-use project in the Northeast D.C. area.