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 . Unless you are experienced as an estate executor, you probably should hire an attorney. Another asks the bank to produce "all documents relating to purchase or provision of wine, champagne, or liquor on behalf of or for Gwendolyn Cafritz or for delivery to or consumption at 2301 Foxhall Road. 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. Gwendolyn Cafritz died of cancer last November. Through a number of different companies, he both invests in and develops all kinds of properties -- commercial, residential, retail and even industrial. But she had a disconcertingly self-serious way of advertising it. In Remembrance. "He's creative, he's smart, also ambitious, like his father. Gradually, as Gwendolyn took command of it, its character changed. 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. 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. Marvin Katz was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma to Dr. Donald LaVerne Katz and Lila Maxine Katz on December 12, 1935. . 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. In high school, for example, Conrad stood out even among his privileged classmates at St. Albans. Expand the Memories and Condolences form. The house was not so much well-tended as beautifully preserved, arrested in time; and the party duplicated the past in every anachronistic detail. 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. Morris had one vision, and Gwendolyn another; whoever now gains control might offer still a third. There are also real estate assets at Arlingtons 3701 N. Fairfax Drive, which is the former home of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. . I hope they will. 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. 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. In particular, he has carried on an epic feud with Herbert S. Miller, chairman of Western Development Corp. Western won a city contract in 1985 to develop the so-called Portals site at the foot of the 14th Street Bridge, potentially the largest commercial development in the city. Following the death of his father, Calvin became president of The Cafritz Co., Cafritz Construction Co. and Ambassador, Inc. in 1964. He has interests too in a booming brokerage firm he helped bankroll, and in a Midwestern shopping-center conglomerate. "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. . ", Today, he still combats a version of that assumption, pithily summed up by one detractor in this way: "You don't have to be Albert Einstein to take money and make additional money in real estate." Devoted father to Laurence (Sherri) Cafritz and Jodi (Mark Bronsky) Cafr Rogers had served as her personal attorney since her husband, Washington real estate magnate Morris Cafritz, died in 1964. The daughter of a Hungarian immunologist who had a role in devising the early Wasserman test to detect syphilis, Gwen Cafritz was the opposite of her husband. Cafritz died in 1964 of a heart attack. 'Their Financial Needs Are Adequately Provided For'. 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. Since 1989, Cafritz led the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, a charitable organization named for his parents. Baron and Baroness Constantine Stackelberg . Cafritz is survived by Jane, his third wife, who is a lawyer in the area. 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. The foundation also gave generously to support the recent GW Hillel building renovation, as well as to provide ongoing support to other civic-minded programs at GW. By 1915 he was known locally as "The Bowling King" but still restlessly sought an opportunity that would truly engage him. At the least, then, Gwendolyn's will disposes of more than $140 million. Late last year, Calvins wife Jane was elected to succeed her husband as the foundations president and CEO and he was named chairman emeritus. "With so-called friends all around her, she was a very lonely woman," says Dowling. 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. Certainly it is Conrad who seems to embody, in one slight frame, the polarities of his parents' lives and personalities. 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,. Mr. Cafritz was married previously two times; his first wife was Enid Cafritz and his second wife was Joyce Smith. ", The Cafritzes slept in separate bedrooms, Morris rising at dawn to get to the office. "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. Calvin H. Frazier (February 16, 1915 - September 23, 1972) was an American Detroit blues and country blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. A unique and lasting tribute for a loved one. 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. Calvin Cafritz, their eldest son, became Board Chairman in 1989 and in 1993, he was elected President and CEO of the Foundation. Tech Tip: How to Turn Documents and Images into PDFs in Android. Read more on bizjournals.com. David Kessler's top 4 tips for dealing with holiday grief. To plant trees in memory, please visit the. ", Conrad and Carter Cafritz have chosen instead the purgatory of probate court, where their complaints suggest less lovely memories. He served in these roles until 2022, when Jane Lipton Cafritz, his wife, was elected Board Chair and President and CEO. 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. In July 1993, he was elected President and CEO of the Foundation and in the last six months became Chairman Emeritus. ", 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. He began with houses, ultimately building about 10,000 homes in the Washington area. Its annual reports list a fairly traditional, staid set of beneficiaries, and its grants are studied by an advisory board heavily weighted toward the kind of high-profile, high-society arts philanthropy that Gwendolyn favored: Among the members are National Gallery of Art Director J. Carter Brown, retired Smithsonian secretary S. Dillon Ripley and retired librarian of Congress Daniel Boorstin, as well Carolyn Deaver, wife of former White House deputy chief of staff Michael K. Deaver, and a social friend of Gwendolyn's, Mrs. Tazewell Shepard. For him, philanthropy required partnerships that are broad, diverse, and extensive. 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? They keep china and glassware sufficient to serve hundreds. Calvin, Carter and Conrad, all of Washington, and 13 grandchildren. sales@governmentexecutiveconsultingservices.com, Copyright 2022 Government Executive Consulting Services. But in the end, her siege of Washington society outlasted most of those limits. 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. He often conveyed his conviction that believing in a cause obligated one to support it financially. She was forever trying to tell me some long story I could never make head or tail of. They're not a map to follow, but simply a description of what people commonly feel. Dean Liesl Riddle of the GW College of Professional Studies (CPS), where GW CEPL has been housed since 2005, said, Our college was launched to make an economic and social impact through innovative professional programs that cultivate talent for employers and propel students careers forward. 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. In any case, he was at least 20 years older than his bride when they married in 1929. 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. 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. Cafritz was a native and longtime resident of Washington, DC. ", Her drinking got out of control, he agrees, shortly after Morris Cafritz's sudden death of a heart attack in 1964. Among the guests that June evening were her three sons, Calvin, Carter and Conrad. 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. He warmly greeted staff and fellow philanthropist alike, making no distinction between people. Small grants went to 15 more Jewish charities, and the rest to such local charities as boys clubs and hospital funds. 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. The George Washington University community is remembering the life of Calvin Cafritz, a businessman, philanthropist and longtime supporter of GW. Echovita Inc is a registered trademark. January 27, 2023. Calvin Cafritz, the eldest son of real estate developer Morris Cafritz, died last week at the age of 91. "She was good to me, and she was a good woman in my eyes," he says. Rachel was a daughter of the late Abraham and Chierney Yarowsky. But public records show that, like any organization privately controlled by a very small number of people, it is very susceptible to change by a determined leader. 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. ", 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 seated dinners for 22, she entertained ambassadors and justices, senators and Cabinet secretaries. What kind of arrangement is appropriate, where should you send it, and when should you send an alternative? He was an excellent listener and always got both the big picture and important details by asking insightful questions. In the process, he amassed one of the first great fortunes to be carved out of Washington itself. 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. Kateryna Pyatybratova directs the centers Cafritz Awards program. Comment * document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "a33c63ad631098ddb002d9da023fc09f" );document.getElementById("gab125c3ec").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. He was 91. His father, Morris, established one of the Washington region's leading philanthropic entities, the Morris and . He was 91. Conrad, who was a losing bidder for the job, waged a lengthy challenge, arguing that Western was giving short shrift to the minority partners whose participation qualified the partnership for the contract award; though he finally lost last year, he succeeded in forcing a renegotiation of terms between Western and the Redevelopment Land Agency. 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. "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. She is survived by her daughter Jane Cafritz (Calvin) of Washington, DC, five grandchildren: James Speyer, Irina Rubenstein and . "He's part of a legendary family, and he's the only one who seems interested in keeping up the legend," says one friend. They charge in their suit that Rogers and Atlas influenced her to leave all the property she controlled to the foundation. 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. ", She kept up appearances even in the privacy of her home, where she drank Scotch from a decanter in the living room. In Memoriam: Calvin Cafritz. Where he was meat and potatoes, earnest frugality, civic pride, she was flashing dark beauty, mercurial moods and social ambition. We'll help you find the right words to comfort your family member or loved one during this difficult time. 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. Operating under his own banner, Calvin Cafritz Enterprises, he has built both residential and commercial buildings in D.C. and Virginia. He was preceded in death by his brother Carter Cafritz. He was for years the president of the Jewish Community Center and donated the land for its first headquarters on Q Street NW. Prepare a personalized obituary for someone you loved.. March 29, 1931 - 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. She was born January 30, 1936 in Kennett, MO to the late David Richard Roberts and Betty Burbank Roberts. 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. 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. Today, Calvin is foundation chairman. To Calvin Cafritz, she left the symbolic role of family chief, Morris Cafritz'ssuccessor in a world of primogeniture. From the others he solicited their names, bending to murmur prompts into the ear of the star. Write your message of sympathy today. 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. He is a leading supporter of the Global India Fund, and the Ukapav Indian-American Scholarship Foundation. To those who thronged to the parties, the children were rarely in evidence. 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 Influence over the city's future -- no doubt. "I think he went along," says a longtime business associate, Irwin Altman. The Morris and. Cafritz was a tireless promoter of the city. 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. 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. To slip out of the speedy traffic on Foxhall Road into the half-circle driveway was to slip back in time. Chances are, many Washingtonians might not even realize how much real estate the Cafritz family is responsible for in the area. "Jews in general just didn't figure. 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. Obituary. There are no events scheduled. "She was a classic case," summarizes Vidal. Once it was built, he wasn't interested in it.". Food has always been a go-to for people in mourning. There are hints too that he has social ambitions on Gwendolyn's scale, if not exactly of her type. "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. She was 78 years old. 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. Cafritz's passing was confirmed by the charitable organization named after Morris and his wife, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. 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. 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. In 2001, the Cafritz Foundation gave $1 million toward the Cafritz Conference Center in the University Student Center. Recognizably brothers, the youngest of them nearing his fifties, they were a striking presence at the party. . "The decanter always had to be full," Dowling says. Special Neighborhood Hang Out: Say Cheese! "Getting along with her," says one developer who knows the family, "was something none of them ever mastered. 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. Mr. 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. Mild, self-effacing, decorous, humble, and unfailingly courteous, Mr. Cafritz led by example and always with a smile. All rights reserved. In 2021 alone, the foundation awarded some 430 grants to 413 nonprofits. All three had become local real estate developers, successful, if less spectacular, emulators of their father. In his later years he established one of the Washington region's leading philanthropic entities, the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. 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. 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. And by 1970, arts and humanities took the largest share of the funding. Old press notices, written in the uncritical fashion of the day, recount her summers in Monte Carlo; her typical day in Washington (beginning with a ride in her limousine -- license number 2301, to match her address -- to the Supreme Court or the Capitol, to take in a decision or an interesting hearing); her winter trips to Palm Beach; her shopping trips in Paris; her ladies lunches at the Mayflower Hotel. 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. 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. 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.". If you know of an upcoming event for Calvin Cafritz, please add one. It's surprising how much a musical selection can affect mourning. 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.
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