He was preceded in death by his brother Carter Cafritz. By 1915 he was known locally as "The Bowling King" but still restlessly sought an opportunity that would truly engage him. Calvin, Carter and Conrad, all of Washington, and 13 grandchildren. The house was not so much well-tended as beautifully preserved, arrested in time; and the party duplicated the past in every anachronistic detail. Marvin LaVerne Katz, 83, of Dallas, Texas, passed away on November 22, 2019 in Dallas. He was an excellent listener and always got both the big picture and important details by asking insightful questions. 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. 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. 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. . 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. And {Gwendolyn} was just considered comical, and there were a lot of jokes about her. Calvin Frazier - Wikipedia Of the $54 million the foundation has given away since 1970, $32 million has gone to the arts and humanities, almost $9 million to community services, $8 million to education and almost $5 million to health. Yet Morris made little impression on Gwendolyn's social world, and she often went out or took vacations alone. Betty Lou Roberts Colvin, age 84 of Warren, AR passed away November 5, 2020 at Chapel Woods Nursing Home in Warren, AR. I just make speeches.". In his later years he established one of the Washington region's leading philanthropic entities, the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. In any case, he was at least 20 years older than his bride when they married in 1929. 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. Marvin Katz Obituary - Richardson, TX - Dignity Memorial For another, he is said to alternate in seconds between a manic intensity and a mumbling diffidence. 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. 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. You have funeral questions, we have answers. January 27, 2023. The suit was filed by the middle and youngest Cafritz sons, Carter, 53, and Conrad, 51. 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. 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. The Cafritz Foundation is also responsible for developing Art Place at Fort Totten, a huge mixed-use project in the Northeast D.C. area. 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. The house on Foxhall Road, completed in 1938, was explicitly designed to fulfill that ambition. 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. 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. But they also sort of outraged people." He was 91 at the time he died. Her husband, along with her parents, was buried in Washington Hebrew Cemetery, in Southeast, in a nicely landscaped, square plot designed for four under a monumental headstone reading CAFRITZ. The best poems for funerals, memorial services., and cards. She appears every week on the WETA-TV arts show "Around Town." 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. 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. Of the three sons, Calvin seems to have had the best relationship with his mother. "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. 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. Real estate was more than mortgages and refi nancing in the Cafritzian heyday; it was empire building . It's surprising how much a musical selection can affect mourning. 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. In 2001, the Cafritz Foundation gave $1 million toward the Cafritz Conference Center in the University Student Center. 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. There are no events scheduled. All Rights Reserved. Gwendolyn Cafritz died of cancer last November. 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. Echovita Inc is a registered trademark. Gwendolyn Cafritz, 78, Washington Hostess - The New York Times No one needed to be told that this was Gwendolyn Cafritz's last hurrah. In addition to his loving family, he leaves behind a long-time member of the family household, Lilian Punzalan, and countless admiring friends. "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. . He died on Thursday, Jan. 12, at age 91. In the 1400 block of Spring Road NW is a row of seven almost identical walk-up apartment buildings. Her gown, as in the past, was spectacularly formal: folds of purple satin sweeping to her ankles beneath a fitted bodice. Once grown, the sons established limited, perfunctory contacts with their mother. To slip out of the speedy traffic on Foxhall Road into the half-circle driveway was to slip back in time. Once it was built, he wasn't interested in it.". The 2019 Philanthropic 50 - Washington Life Magazine We welcome you to provide your thoughts and memories on our Tribute Wall. But she had a disconcertingly self-serious way of advertising it. In Memoriam: Calvin Cafritz | GW Today | The George Washington University 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. 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. "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. 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. James Edward Cafritz Obituary He was 91. 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. "That black sense of humor asserts itself, or he'll do something outrageous." We'll help you find the right words to comfort your family member or loved one during this difficult time. 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. 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. Meanwhile, for as long as it takes, Conrad's childhood home turns a sleeping face to Foxhall Road, drapes drawn at all the windows. Calvin, 58, who finds himself a defendant in this lawsuit, is usually described as gentlemanly, methodical and reserved. Calvin Cafritz, a successful businessman, was involved in real estate for more than fifty years. He was the eldest son of real estate titan Morris Cafritz and his wife Gwendolyn. Special Neighborhood Hang Out: Say Cheese! Following the death of his father, Calvin became president of The Cafritz Co., Cafritz Construction Co. and Ambassador, Inc. in 1964. Mild, self-effacing, decorous, humble, and unfailingly courteous, Mr. Cafritz led by example and always with a smile. 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. Gradually, as Gwendolyn took command of it, its character changed. An obituary is not available at this time for Calvin 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. 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. Cafritz started by investing in real estate, and was always ready to make a prescient purchase, but his true passion was construction. There are no events at this time. The mission of the foundation is improving the quality of life for all Washington, D.C., metropolitan-area residents, Boerstling said. 2 SONS CONTEST $84 MILLION CAFRITZ WILL - The Washington Post He's truly out to make a big impact on the city, I think. One quarter to be divided among his sons, in trusts they would inherit outright at age 35. Baron and Baroness Constantine Stackelberg . We welcome you to provide your thoughts and memories on our Tribute Wall. But the fourth square in the plot remains empty; Gwendolyn Cafritz was memorialized in a Presbyterian church and had herself buried far north in Rockville's Parklawn Cemetery, among strangers. At the heart of the lawsuit is a quest to gain at least partial control over the whole empire of which Gwendolyn's estate is an integral piece, over the whole legacy that Morris Cafritz created. Conrad's strategy has been diversity. "He's always very, very protective of the Cafritz name, as if it were his own. Aubinoe and Edwards also designed the Cafritzes' dramatic house on Foxhall Road. 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. There is no photo or video of Calvin Cafritz.Be the first to share a memory to pay tribute. Calvin Cafritz, their eldest son, became Board Chairman in 1989 and in 1993, he was elected President and CEO of the Foundation. Calvin Cafritz (1931-2023) | The Georgetowner 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] Site design by, D.C. developer and head of the Cafritz Foundation. But Carter and Conrad Cafritz are not named in their mother's will. He resigned seven years later to form Cafritz Enterprises. 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. Since 1989, Cafritz led the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, a charitable organization named for his parents. . Washington Life Magazine: June 2007:WEALTH LIST 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,. He was 91. "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's part of a legendary family, and he's the only one who seems interested in keeping up the legend," says one friend. Calvin Cafritz, D.C. developer and head of the Cafritz Foundation, dies at 91. bizjournals.com - Michael Neibauer 20h. None of the Cafritz sons can be said to need the money that is at stake. Yet he uncomplainingly supported all of Gwendolyn's efforts, and was said to adore his colorful bride. 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. Ridgewell's had produced, out of retirement, the same waiter who had announced the guests eight years before. 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. About - The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation The Cafritz Foundation is also a longtime supporter of GWs Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service. And he still fights his battles with a surprising intensity, rarely bothering with the shake-hands-and-forget-it bonhomie common in Washington business. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a contribution to a charity of your choice. That's why her final victory rather delighted me. Jane Lipton Cafritz was elected in the second half of 2022 to succeed her husband as the foundations president and CEO. He was 91. Gwendolyn left the $14 million landmark to the foundation, with the very Gwendolyn-like wish that it become "a center in which scholars, statesmen and civic leaders may conduct research, conferences, seminars and other func-tions relating to issues of interest tomankind.". (Conrad and Peggy were both involved in Barry's first election campaign, and Peggy is the godmother of Barry's son, Christopher.) 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. For some people, the best send-off is one that they would have loved to attendthemselves: a big party. But it was a heady enough wine to call out 300 guests, and the ghosts of many more who had preceded them. He left it as follows: Half to the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. He began with houses, ultimately building about 10,000 homes in the Washington area. All three had become local real estate developers, successful, if less spectacular, emulators of their father. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. "The boys used to make a joke of their mother. Peggy Cooper Cafritz, grande dame of the Washington arts and education . He also has three children, five grandchildren and three stepchildren. And other times she didn't. 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. In 1971, Mr. Cafritz resigned to form Calvin Cafritz Enterprises, with investments in aviation, communications, and Washington area real estate. Required fields are marked *. Ways to honor Calvin Cafritz's life and legacy. "There were moments when you wanted to go around and have everybody wear not just a name tag, but a bio,"says their good friend Margaret Lenzner. The Cromwell, Aberdeen, Fernbrook, Rosedale, Isleworth, Traymore and Zellwood are in sorry shape today, but still stand as a modest monument to the name C-A-F-R-I-T-Z. a medically-induced . He died on Thursday, Jan. 12, at age 91. At the same time, he and Tompkins had the foresight to buy the land now known as Pentagon City. Carter appears something of a cipher even to old family associates. 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. Click here for full story from WTOP and the Washington Business Journal. The singers belonged to the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists Program (YAP), one of the opera world's most prestigious breeding grounds for the next generation of Pavarottis and Renee . If youre in charge of handling the affairs for a recently deceased loved one, this guide offers a helpful checklist.