An obituary is not available at this time for Calvin Cafritz. 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. 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. He is also survived by his three children, Elliot Cafritz (Lauren), Anthony Cafritz (Pearl), and Elizabeth Peltekian(Viken); five grandchildren, Sam, Alexander, Seb, Aram, and Van; three stepchildren, Olivia Rubenstein, Irina Rubenstein, and James Speyer; and two step-grandchildren Evan and MJSpeyer. "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. It is a secretive organization: The foundation would answer no questions for this article. It charges that Rogers and Atlas "exerted undue influence" on her decision to leave all her money to the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, and that Gwendolyn herself "lacked testamentary capacity," meaning that she was incapable of writing her will. (91 years old). 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. And to the publicity-loathing cave dwellers, the Georgetown hostesses who were society leaders by birth, Gwendolyn's so-visible efforts made her a figure of fun. 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. 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. Memorial services will be held at 2:00 pm on December 2 at First Presbyterian Church of Richardson with David Schaefers officiating. To slip out of the speedy traffic on Foxhall Road into the half-circle driveway was to slip back in time. Conrad is angrily aware, say friends, that his success will always be explained away. Washington, DC 20007 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. Conrad's strategy has been diversity. Calvin Cafritz and the Cafritz Foundation have been part of the GW Honey Nashman Center from its earliest roots in the Office of Community Service and the Neighbors Project in the 1990s through to the present, said Amy Cohen, executive director of the center. All rights reserved. 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. 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. Leave a sympathy message to the family in the guestbook on this memorial page of Calvin Cafritz to show support. The mission of the foundation is improving the quality of life for all Washington, D.C., metropolitan-area residents, Boerstling said. Rachel M. Ratowsky, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, passed away peacefully in her sleep on Tuesday, February 2, 2021. I hope they will. He was 91. "I just thought she maybe had had enough of running around, and she was maybe going to stay in a while. To one interviewer she said that art was "the theme, you might say" of her life, "as in a Wagnerian opera." In the '70s she became a near-recluse. 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. 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.
. 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. It is easy to imagine that for a son of Morris Cafritz, watching great deals go unmade is a kind of hell. A unique and lasting tribute for a loved one. Since 1989, Cafritz led the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, a charitable organization named for his parents. (His first wife, Jennifer, has since married Laughlin Phillips, son of Duncan and Marjorie Phillips and president of the Phillips Collection.). Yet he uncomplainingly supported all of Gwendolyn's efforts, and was said to adore his colorful bride. 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. Mr. Cafritz began his career with Cafritz Construction Company in 1947. She is survived by her daughter Jane Cafritz (Calvin) of Washington, DC, five grandchildren: James Speyer, Irina Rubenstein and . "The decanter always had to be full," Dowling says. She was born January 30, 1936 in Kennett, MO to the late David Richard Roberts and Betty Burbank Roberts. That task was left to her closest relatives. January 27, 2023. With such a ruling, the trust would pass to the three sons, as outlined in Morris's will. 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. In the process, he amassed one of the first great fortunes to be carved out of Washington itself. 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. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a contribution to a charity of your choice. . All rights reserved. Site design by, D.C. developer and head of the Cafritz Foundation. "Conrad was persistent as hell in getting that project," says one person familiar with Conrad's business. Jane Lipton Cafritz was elected in the second half of 2022 to succeed her husband as the foundations president and CEO. . The suit was filed by the middle and youngest Cafritz sons, Carter, 53, and Conrad, 51. Carter appears something of a cipher even to old family associates. 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. 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 . ", High culture was one of her chosen routes to acceptance. Operating under his own banner, Calvin Cafritz Enterprises, he has built both residential and commercial buildings in D.C. and Virginia. He began with houses, ultimately building about 10,000 homes in the Washington area. In the '50s, Cafritz had an early conviction that the future direction of downtown Washington was along the K Street corridor, and before his death in 1964 he built a dozen buildings in the "new" downtown, mostly on K and I streets NW. All Rights Reserved. "Very sort of philosophic, sort of honorable." At the time the lawsuit was filed, family sources told The Washington Post that the marital trust was worth $84 million. 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. 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. 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. 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. He had emigrated from Russia as a boy with his family, which stopped briefly in New York before settling down to run a grocery store at 24th and P streets NW. 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.". 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." 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. She was multilingual and had studied art history at the University of Budapest. 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. Of the three sons, Calvin seems to have had the best relationship with his mother. Says a friend, "He thinks they're a lot of fuddy-duddies living in the 17th century." 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. 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. 91. Morris Cafritz is remembered more for the quantity than for the aesthetic quality of his works. "Jews in general just didn't figure. "She was good to me, and she was a good woman in my eyes," he says. Small grants went to 15 more Jewish charities, and the rest to such local charities as boys clubs and hospital funds. In 1971, Mr. Cafritz resigned to form Calvin Cafritz Enterprises, with investments in aviation, communications, and Washington area real estate. Her gown, as in the past, was spectacularly formal: folds of purple satin sweeping to her ankles beneath a fitted bodice. He left it as follows: Half to the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. 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. 1050 30th St. NW 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. In 2001, the Cafritz Foundation gave $1 million toward the Cafritz Conference Center in the University Student Center. 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. 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. But they also sort of outraged people." Recognizably brothers, the youngest of them nearing his fifties, they were a striking presence at the party. All three had become local real estate developers, successful, if less spectacular, emulators of their father. He also is a director. It's surprising how much a musical selection can affect mourning. ", According to friends, her confidence was badly shaken when she was robbed at home in 1969 by gunmen who bound and beat her, stealing most of the spectacular jewelry Morris had given her. He was 91 at the time he died. "She felt that was the end, when she couldn't function socially.". It is hard not to wonder what the effect might have been of hearing Gwendolyn Cafritz's will read for the first time. So he began buying real estate speculatively, and in 1920 opened a real estate office on 15th Street NW. In July 1993, he was elected President and CEO of the Foundation and in the last six months became Chairman Emeritus. "Lots of times she could drink and she knew exactly what she was doing. Rogers had served as her personal attorney since her husband, Washington real estate magnate Morris Cafritz, died in 1964. You can still show your support by sending flowers directly to the family, or plant a tree in memory of Calvin Cafritz. Where he was meat and potatoes, earnest frugality, civic pride, she was flashing dark beauty, mercurial moods and social ambition. . But in the end, her siege of Washington society outlasted most of those limits. ", Gwendolyn's estate is worth at least $140 million, including both her personal holdings and a trust passed on from Morris Cafritz's will (see box, Page 32). Gwendolyn Cafritz, a leading Washington hostess, died of cancer Tuesday at her home in the capital. Yet Morris made little impression on Gwendolyn's social world, and she often went out or took vacations alone. ", Conrad and Carter Cafritz have chosen instead the purgatory of probate court, where their complaints suggest less lovely memories. "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. Mr. But Conrad has rolled out impressive legal artillery, captained by former White House counsel Lloyd N. Cutler, and seems prepared to dig in for a long siege -- at least long enough, perhaps, to wring a settlement from his opponents. For him, philanthropy required partnerships that are broad, diverse, and extensive. 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 . including, but not limited to, any facilities located in Washington, D.C.; Palm Beach, Florida; or Monte Carlo, Monaco." The George Washington University community is remembering the life of Calvin Cafritz, a businessman, philanthropist and longtime supporter of GW. As he stood by her chair, he could name at a glance quite a few of the guests -- Chief Justice and Mrs. Warren Burger . 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. A document filed in probate court says an initial inventory of her own property exceeded $90 million; however, inventories filed with her will account only for a little more than $80 million. In any case, he was at least 20 years older than his bride when they married in 1929. If you know of an upcoming event for Calvin Cafritz, please add one. He's truly out to make a big impact on the city, I think. Calvin, Carter and Conrad, all of Washington, and 13 grandchildren. Under the terms of an old agreement, each of the sons will automatically receive $7 million, tax-free, in recompense for having forfeited, in the late '60s, some money from a different trust. Senator Barry Goldwater . 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. A memorial service will be held at a later date. You have funeral questions, we have answers. 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. To Edward R. Murrow, in a 1956 interview, she said that to speak of Washington cocktail parties was "unfair to Washington. Michael J. Dowling, who became the Cafritzes' butler in the early '60s, describes a tragically common decline. "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. From the others he solicited their names, bending to murmur prompts into the ear of the star. After their marriage in 1981, Conrad and Peggy bought Sen. Stuart Symington's house in the Foxhall Road area, studied it for a while, then tore it down to build a new house. 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. 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.". 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. Home Ymelda Dixon, who covered many of her parties for the Evening Star, recalls, "They were great parties, because she had the means and the imagination. 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. If youre in charge of handling the affairs for a recently deceased loved one, this guide offers a helpful checklist. He was 91 years of age. 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. 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. She appears every week on the WETA-TV arts show "Around Town." In addition, there are at least 10 apartment buildings in D.C. Conrad, say friends, has watched in frustration as downtown Washington boomed and the foundation failed to take maximum advantage of its holdings. Some observers speculate that Conrad, hardheaded real estate man that he is, simply wants some say in the disposition of the real estate owned -- in many cases, co-owned -- by the foundation and Gwendolyn's estate. 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. "Those were her orders: The Scotch should never be let go beneath the neck of the decanter. "Calvin is a very sweet, very nice person," says D.C. lawyer Max N. Berry. The Meyer Foundation is sad to learn of the passing of Calvin Cafritz, a Washington-area developer and one of the region's leading philanthropists. 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. . He also has three children, five grandchildren and three stepchildren. Calvin Cafritz, their eldest son, became Board Chairman in 1989 and in 1993, he was elected President and CEO of the Foundation.