(His first wife, Jennifer, has since married Laughlin Phillips, son of Duncan and Marjorie Phillips and president of the Phillips Collection.). Calvin Cafritz, the eldest son of real estate developer Morris Cafritz, died last week at the age of 91. He was 91. Add a photo or a video . 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 And other times she didn't. Money -- to be sure. Services Guestbook Condolences. Then there is the charitable legacy. They're not a map to follow, but simply a description of what people commonly feel. Two and a half years later Gwendolyn Cafritz was dead of cancer, at 78, and the following summer -- three years after that final party -- her two younger sons filed suit in D.C. Superior Court to. Her statements in the press, even the adoring press of yore, suggest at the least a daunting mother. 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 . "That black sense of humor asserts itself, or he'll do something outrageous." 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. 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. G Guest 4 hours ago Comment Share T The staff at Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care Inc a day ago We plant this tree as a living memorial to Calvin. And Gwendolyn's estate is not, in the end, the only -- or even the main thing -- at stake. Small grants went to 15 more Jewish charities, and the rest to such local charities as boys clubs and hospital funds. 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. The house on Foxhall Road, completed in 1938, was explicitly designed to fulfill that ambition. 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. Because Gwendolyn's estate has not been probated, its value is hard to establish. Some basic help and starters when you have to write a tribute to someone you love. For him, philanthropy required partnerships that are broad, diverse, and extensive. 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. In 1929 he also built the since-demolished Ambassador Hotel, at 14th and K streets NW, where he and his family lived until 1938. The trust was established at the death of Morris Cafritz in June 1964 in the interests of saving estate taxes. The outcome of the lawsuit is unpredictable, though clearly it will be an uphill fight: Showing that someone was alcoholic is very different from demonstrating that she was incapable of writing a will. He died on Thursday, Jan. 12, at age 91. The foundation, among Greater Washingtons largest with more than $400 million in assets and some $65 million in annual revenue and expenses, according to its most recent Form 990, is expected to issue a formal statement in the coming days. 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. 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. 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.". An obituary is not available at this time for Calvin Cafritz. Receive obituaries from the city or cities of your choice. 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. "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. In any case, he was at least 20 years older than his bride when they married in 1929. But Carter and Conrad Cafritz are not named in their mother's will. Mr. Cafritz has been an exemplary advocate for excellence in government and nonprofits in D.C., and the foundation has been a force for community self-efficacy. Send simple, comforting meals with Home Chef. As the hostess had asked, Ridgewell's Caterers heaped the silver platters and chafing dishes with the same filling, fusty food -- the whole poached salmon, the ham and turkey and carved tenderloin; none of the pastas or blackened seafood or grilled vegetables then in fashion. And he still fights his battles with a surprising intensity, rarely bothering with the shake-hands-and-forget-it bonhomie common in Washington business. That's what we call a success story. Site design by, D.C. developer and head of the Cafritz Foundation. "Getting along with her," says one developer who knows the family, "was something none of them ever mastered. Echovita Inc is a registered trademark. 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. Food has always been a go-to for people in mourning. Conrad's strange, and doesn't mind people thinking that he's strange; he kind of encourages it.". The entire time, he fought with gloves off, publicly charging his rivals with bad faith. Yet in Morris's absence, the family was anything but the tight-knit dynasty he had paved the way for. Click here for full story from WTOP and the Washington Business Journal. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. "He took me into the kitchen and showed me how the cook would leave coffee for him in the morning," remembers the friend. 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. Calvin, Carter and Conrad, all of Washington, and 13 grandchildren. 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. Authorize the publication of the original written obituary with the accompanying photo. He was 91 years of. He was 91. ", High culture was one of her chosen routes to acceptance. "Conrad is really an anomaly," says lawyer and real estate developer Donald Brown. 5.8K. When he died, his estate was the largest ever probated in the District of Columbia. Rachel M. Ratowsky, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, passed away peacefully in her sleep on Tuesday, February 2, 2021. The Cafritz Foundation was one of the biggest in the D.C. area, with over $400 million in assets and around $65 million in annual revenue and expenses, according to The Washington Business Journal. Once it was built, he wasn't interested in it.". He and his wife, Jane, and the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation have made major contributions to the city of Washington, DC and the region. Through a number of different companies, he both invests in and develops all kinds of properties -- commercial, residential, retail and even industrial. 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. (91 years old). Information and advice to help you cope with the death of someone important to you. 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. 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. To offer your sympathy during this difficult time, you can now have memorial trees planted in a National Forest in memory of your loved one. . 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. Then, in 1988, came the announcement that Conrad Cafritz, with Japanese partners, had bought Washington Harbour, the glitzy development below K Street in Georgetown that had been troubled from its opening; the original developer of Washington Harbour was Western. Special Neighborhood Hang Out: Say Cheese! 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 . 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 said that the awards are designed to "shine a light on the contributions of extraordinary government employees. Finally, there is an emotional legacy to be earned -- or perhaps shed. It is hard not to wonder what the effect might have been of hearing Gwendolyn Cafritz's will read for the first time. A minor but colorful part of Cafritz's legacy was an idea borrowed from Harry Wardman, his predecessor as the leader of the field. But maybe they just don't want Gwen Cafritz to have the last word. "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. 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. Conrad is angrily aware, say friends, that his success will always be explained away. Cardiac Arrest.Most Shocking Celebrity Deaths of All Time, Over the last few decades, there have been some shocking and untimely deaths of few celebrities, Celebrity deaths in 2022: Remembering the famous faces we lost this year . 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. He is survived by his loving and devoted wife, Jane Lipton Cafritz, a distinguished Washington lawyer, whom he married on June 1, 2000. Copyright 2023 Echovita Inc. All rights reserved. January 27, 2023. Published by The Washington Post on Jan. 22, 2023. The Cafritz Foundation is also responsible for developing Art Place at Fort Totten, a huge mixed-use project in the Northeast D.C. area. 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. 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. . There are, superficially, great similarities among the three brothers, who all share their mother's dark coloring. After college and military service, he rejoined the firm in 1956 and served in various positions, until the death of his father in 1964 when he became President of Cafritz Company, Cafritz Construction Company, and Ambassador, Inc. During his tenure, the companies developed, constructed, and leased a number of additional office buildings in Washington's central business district. 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. "I'm sure part of it was to show Herb Miller he was serious.". 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. That's why her final victory rather delighted me. 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. There were of course the grand exceptions like the Warburgs, and Walter Lippmann, and Arthur Krock . . Unless you are experienced as an estate executor, you probably should hire an attorney. 2017-2023 Tribute Archive. . What do Conrad and Carter Cafritz hope to gain from an arduous legal proceeding that already involves at least 12 law firms and threatens to stretch on for years? He's truly out to make a big impact on the city, I think. When the Duke and Duchess of Windsor came and danced downstairs in "the Club," with the dance floor lighted from below. We will miss his gracious and generous presence.. He began with houses, ultimately building about 10,000 homes in the Washington area. . 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.". All rights reserved. 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. In high school, for example, Conrad stood out even among his privileged classmates at St. Albans. All three had become local real estate developers, successful, if less spectacular, emulators of their father. For another, he is said to alternate in seconds between a manic intensity and a mumbling diffidence. James Edward Cafritz <p>James Edward Cafritz of Bethesda, MD, passed away on Tuesday, December 22, 2020, at the age of 90. In his later years he established one of the Washington region's leading philanthropic entities, the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. 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. Baron and Baroness Constantine Stackelberg . "He's always very, very protective of the Cafritz name, as if it were his own. If you experience a barrier that affects your ability to access content on this page, let us know via the. Required fields are marked *. 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. Roger was born on September 30, 1952 in Toulon, the son. Grief researchers say holding that missing funeral service, even a year or more later, can still help us heal. 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. With such a ruling, the trust would pass to the three sons, as outlined in Morris's will. He was preceded in death by his brother Carter Cafritz. 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. One quarter to his widow, in a "marital trust" that would pay her interest until her death and give her the power to "appoint" the ultimate heirs to the principal; if she did not exercise this power, the principal would pass to the Cafritzes' sons upon her death. But Gwendolyn sometimes took pains to tell friends that she herself was not Jewish. Ridgewell's had produced, out of retirement, the same waiter who had announced the guests eight years before. 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. 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. 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. This suit asks the court to overturn her will, after which, under D.C. law, her property would be divided among her sons. Papers filed in court by his sons' lawyers say he was born in 1888; his gravestone says 1890, which would have made him only 14 when he started his business career. 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.