Perhaps one day Calvin, or Conrad, or some Cafritz now unknown, will find a way to bring together the opposite forms of ambition that thrived in this house, and give a second start to the dynasty that never was. He too has denied the sons' allegations in his formal answer to their complaint. 5.8K. 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. "Jews in general just didn't figure. With such a ruling, the trust would pass to the three sons, as outlined in Morris's will. 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. (202) 338-4833, Georgetown Media Group. Echovita offers a solidarity program that gives back the funds generated to families. 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. "Very sort of philosophic, sort of honorable." 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. Rachel M. Ratowsky, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, passed away peacefully in her sleep on Tuesday, February 2, 2021. Click here for full story from WTOP and the Washington Business Journal. Receive obituaries from the city or cities of your choice. (91 years old). 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. In 2021 alone some 430 grants were given to 413 nonprofits of all sizes, including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Washington National Opera (through the Cafritz Young Artists of Washington National Opera program), the Phillips Collection, the National Gallery of Art, and countless colleges, universities,and schools throughout the DC area. 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." Once grown, the sons established limited, perfunctory contacts with their mother. ", 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. 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. . Distinguished D.C. Government Employees Recognized at Cafritz Awards Gala, Office of Communications & Marketing She retained the right to will awaythe remaining three-quarters, or $63 million, which sheleft to the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. From the others he solicited their names, bending to murmur prompts into the ear of the star. 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. 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. 2000 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Kateryna Pyatybratova directs the centers Cafritz Awards program. 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. Morris Cafritz is remembered more for the quantity than for the aesthetic quality of his works. For him, philanthropy required partnerships that are broad, diverse, and extensive. Then there is the foundation itself, with its powerful endowment for the city. 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. Mr. Cafritz said that the awards are designed to "shine a light on the contributions of extraordinary government employees. Decedent lacked sufficient capacity to, and did not, dispose of her property with judgment and understanding, considering the nature, character and extent of her estate.". 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. Her skin had an unhealthy, pouchy pallor; extending an uncertain hand, she had the air of a dreamer deploying remembered charms. In 1929 he also built the since-demolished Ambassador Hotel, at 14th and K streets NW, where he and his family lived until 1938. In his later years he established one of the Washington region's leading philanthropic entities, the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. "Carter, he always did what the other two did," says Casey. "Right at the moment he could be most charming, he does something to undercut it," says one friend. 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. Michael J. Dowling, who became the Cafritzes' butler in the early '60s, describes a tragically common decline. Vidal wrote, "Irene's evening dress was much too vivid, too personal, too fashionable for the calculated dowdiness" of a dinner in old-line Washington. Gradually, as Gwendolyn took command of it, its character changed. Some basic help and starters when you have to write a tribute to someone you love. 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. By 1915 he was known locally as "The Bowling King" but still restlessly sought an opportunity that would truly engage him. 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. One quarter to be divided among his sons, in trusts they would inherit outright at age 35. (Conrad and Peggy were both involved in Barry's first election campaign, and Peggy is the godmother of Barry's son, Christopher.) He was the eldest son of real estate titan Morris Cafritz and his wife Gwendolyn. Mr. Cafritz began his career with Cafritz Construction Company in 1947. It is hard not to wonder what the effect might have been of hearing Gwendolyn Cafritz's will read for the first time. Food has always been a go-to for people in mourning. At the time the lawsuit was filed, family sources told The Washington Post that the marital trust was worth $84 million. In the 21st century, it's not just urns and gravestones anymore. Roger was born on September 30, 1952 in Toulon, the son. 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. 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. A memorial service will be held at a later date. She could no longer make an entrance, of course. She appears every week on the WETA-TV arts show "Around Town." He was 91 at the time he died. There he built the massive River House apartments; his estate eventually sold most of the land for others to develop. 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. So he began buying real estate speculatively, and in 1920 opened a real estate office on 15th Street NW. There are, superficially, great similarities among the three brothers, who all share their mother's dark coloring. 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. 91. Memorial services will be held at 2:00 pm on December 2 at First Presbyterian Church of Richardson with David Schaefers officiating. He began with houses, ultimately building about 10,000 homes in the Washington area. Cafritz died in 1964 of a heart attack. Conrad has six children -- three adopted sons, who were Jennifer's by a first marriage; two daughters with Jennifer; and, with Peggy, 5-year-old Zachary. 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. What do the younger sons of the celebrated Washington hostess hope to gain by waging legal war over their mother's will? "That what she wanted was pointless is not for us to judge.". Their differences were, in fact, a part of their legend, for they were one of the earliest families to bring together the two cities on the Potomac: On the one hand was the ethereal world of social and political Washington -- her world, which venerated either good birth or a seat in the Senate; on the other hand was his world, the corporeal city of sewers and streets and buildings and real citizens, men and women who grew up above grocery stores the way Morris Cafritz had. [2] He is buried in the Washington Hebrew Congregation Cemetery, Washington, D.C. Philanthropy [ edit] "He just wanted to build, build, build, build!" "Calvin is a very sweet, very nice person," says D.C. lawyer Max N. Berry. James Edward Cafritz <p>James Edward Cafritz of Bethesda, MD, passed away on Tuesday, December 22, 2020, at the age of 90. Her statements in the press, even the adoring press of yore, suggest at the least a daunting mother. An obituary is not available at this time for Calvin Cafritz. David Kessler's top 4 tips for dealing with holiday grief. It is intriguing to imagine what different directions Conrad Cafritz might urge -- and how much they would draw from the activism of his wife, who has likely pondered what difference the Cafritz endowment might make to her lifelong campaign to wrest the arts from Washington's white upper classes. Real estate was more than mortgages and refi nancing in the Cafritzian heyday; it was empire building . 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. He died on Thursday, Jan. 12, at age 91. But maybe they just don't want Gwen Cafritz to have the last word. Today, Calvin is foundation chairman. The Cafritz Foundation is also a longtime supporter of GWs Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service. 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. . Influence over the city's future -- no doubt. Chances are, many Washingtonians might not even realize how much real estate the Cafritz family is responsible for in the area. To Calvin Cafritz, she left the symbolic role of family chief, Morris Cafritz'ssuccessor in a world of primogeniture. 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. 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. 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. Once it was built, he wasn't interested in it.". recalls Raymond Carter, a former vice president of the Cafritz Co. "He always had a new job going. To plant trees in memory, please visit the. 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. The entire time, he fought with gloves off, publicly charging his rivals with bad faith. That's what we call a success story. "She was good to me, and she was a good woman in my eyes," he says. 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. Cafritz exemplified what it means to be an inspirational leader and a great human being, said Pyatybratova. Certainly it is Conrad who seems to embody, in one slight frame, the polarities of his parents' lives and personalities. Conrad is angrily aware, say friends, that his success will always be explained away. Even her friends laughed at the way she would seat herself intently in the lobby of the Paris Hotel in Monte Carlo, at a table "very strategically placed," in the words of one, to court the passing society. Rachel was a daughter of the late Abraham and Chierney Yarowsky. Marvin Katz was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma to Dr. Donald LaVerne Katz and Lila Maxine Katz on December 12, 1935. They're more like the French salons.". But almost no one seems to doubt that Conrad is the main force behind it. 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. Small grants went to 15 more Jewish charities, and the rest to such local charities as boys clubs and hospital funds. 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. ON JUNE 10, 1986, GWENDOLYN D. CAFRITZ GAVE HER LAST PARTY. 1050 30th St. NW Beginning with single-family houses, moving on to apartment houses and office buildings, he managed to dodge the Depression and was well positioned to preside over the city's transforming boom during and after World War II (see box, Page 20). Mr. At the least, then, Gwendolyn's will disposes of more than $140 million. The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation is already, with its more than $220 million in assets, the largest source of private funds earmarked for the District of Columbia. "Conrad was persistent as hell in getting that project," says one person familiar with Conrad's business. "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. 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. "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. Add a photo or a video Says a friend, "He thinks they're a lot of fuddy-duddies living in the 17th century." Write your message of sympathy today. "Conrad is really an anomaly," says lawyer and real estate developer Donald Brown. Grief researchers say holding that missing funeral service, even a year or more later, can still help us heal. The foundation, which Calvin led for over 30 years (after his mother Gwendolyn died in 1988), focuses on programs in the arts and humanities. 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. His father, Morris, established one of the Washington region's leading philanthropic entities, the Morris and . Calvin Cafritz, their eldest son, became Board Chairman in 1989 and in 1993, he was elected President and CEO of the Foundation. A minor but colorful part of Cafritz's legacy was an idea borrowed from Harry Wardman, his predecessor as the leader of the field. "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. She was forever trying to tell me some long story I could never make head or tail of. 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.
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