"She was good to me, and she was a good woman in my eyes," he says. Ridgewell's had produced, out of retirement, the same waiter who had announced the guests eight years before.
Gwendolyn Cafritz, a leading Washington hostess, died of cancer Tuesday at her home in the capital. 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). But Gwendolyn sometimes took pains to tell friends that she herself was not Jewish. 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. Echovita Inc is a registered trademark. 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. Calvin Cafritz Rockville, Maryland March 29, 1931 - January 12, 2023 Share Obituary: Tribute Wall Obituary & Events Share a memory Send Flowers Obituary An obituary is not available at this time for Calvin Cafritz. 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. This suit asks the court to overturn her will, after which, under D.C. law, her property would be divided among her sons. 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. (Conrad and Peggy were both involved in Barry's first election campaign, and Peggy is the godmother of Barry's son, Christopher.) She retained the right to will awaythe remaining three-quarters, or $63 million, which sheleft to the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. Mr. Cafritz began his career with Cafritz Construction Company in 1947. Chances are, many Washingtonians might not even realize how much real estate the Cafritz family is responsible for in the area. Information and advice to help you cope with the death of someone important to you. 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. 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. So he began buying real estate speculatively, and in 1920 opened a real estate office on 15th Street NW.
"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. "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. For now, the house is tended by at least two servants, who are listed in court documents as living there, and the grass is beautifully clipped, the pachysandra well-tended. He was an excellent listener and always got both the big picture and important details by asking insightful questions. 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. Required fields are marked *. In July 1993, he was elected President and CEO of the Foundation and in the last six months became Chairman Emeritus. The Cafritz Foundation is also a longtime supporter of GWs Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service. As time went on, she lost complete control, and she had to drink more. 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. Thanks to the support of the Cafritz Foundation for the last 25 years, CEPL has supported organizational transformation across the public sector in the city. 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. "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. Gradually, as Gwendolyn took command of it, its character changed. ", 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). 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. James Edward Cafritz <p>James Edward Cafritz of Bethesda, MD, passed away on Tuesday, December 22, 2020, at the age of 90. The foundation, which Calvin led for over 30 years (after his mother Gwendolyn died in 1988), focuses on programs in the arts and humanities. A unique and lasting tribute for a loved one. Cafritz was a tireless promoter of the city. And Gwendolyn's estate is not, in the end, the only -- or even the main thing -- at stake. 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. It is a secretive organization: The foundation would answer no questions for this article. Recommend Calvin's obituary to your friends. . She was forever trying to tell me some long story I could never make head or tail of. 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. Would you like to offer Calvin Cafritzs loved ones a condolence message? "Conrad was persistent as hell in getting that project," says one person familiar with Conrad's business. 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. With support from the Cafritz Foundation, the Center for Excellence in Public Leadership hosts a yearly awards gala to honor D.C. government employees who demonstrate outstanding public service. He was 91 years of age. 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. She appears every week on the WETA-TV arts show "Around Town." Nor, apparently, is it for us to judge what her sons now want from a D.C. Superior Court judge: All three declined to beinterviewed. Roger was born on September 30, 1952 in Toulon, the son. 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. January 27, 2023. 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. "Calvin is a very sweet, very nice person," says D.C. lawyer Max N. Berry.
Power List 2010: DC Family Dynasties - Washington Life Magazine He was 91. 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. . 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. 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. His father, Morris, established one of the Washington region's leading philanthropic entities, the Morris and . No one needed to be told that this was Gwendolyn Cafritz's last hurrah. Md.-based government contractor relocates headquarters to Fairfax Co. Montgomery County, MD Files Lawsuit Against McKinsey and Company, Inc. for Companys Role in Creating Opioid Epidemic, GSA Seeks Commercial Procurement Data Solution. But Carter and Conrad Cafritz are not named in their mother's will. 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. ", High culture was one of her chosen routes to acceptance. "That black sense of humor asserts itself, or he'll do something outrageous." 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? ", Interviews suggest the sons will not lack for evidence to support their argument. ", Gwendolyn reportedly raised her children according to the dictates of her European background -- under the aegis of servants, to be seen and not heard. Cafritz started by investing in real estate, and was always ready to make a prescient purchase, but his true passion was construction. 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. The Morris and.
The 2019 Philanthropic 50 - Washington Life Magazine The India-born founder and CEO of District-based software company Hunch Analytics is an active benefactor of both Washington and Indian causes and nonprofit groups. With that philosophy he built a substantial reputation for philanthropy. Morris was a famously frugal man who used to tell friends he couldn't afford to rent office space in the best of his buildings, and his major vanity, beyond lying about his age, appears to have been combing his pomaded hair over a bald spot at the back. It is hard not to wonder what the effect might have been of hearing Gwendolyn Cafritz's will read for the first time. a medically-induced . (His first wife, Jennifer, has since married Laughlin Phillips, son of Duncan and Marjorie Phillips and president of the Phillips Collection.).
Calvin Cafritz Obituary (1931 - 2023) - Washington, DC - The Washington 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. 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. They charge in their suit that Rogers and Atlas influenced her to leave all the property she controlled to the foundation. 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. But maybe they just don't want Gwen Cafritz to have the last word. Recognizably brothers, the youngest of them nearing his fifties, they were a striking presence at the party. It took lawyers and IRS agents 4 years to settle the estate, which was valued in 1968 at $66 million. He also has three children, five grandchildren and three stepchildren. "I've just bought 100 acres of downtown Washington," he was fond of saying. There is no photo or video of Calvin Cafritz.Be the first to share a memory to pay tribute.
Calvin Fritz Obituary (1952 - 2021) - Legacy Remembers 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. In Remembrance. At the same time, he and Tompkins had the foresight to buy the land now known as Pentagon City. These two, according to the complaint by Carter and Conrad Cafritz, "exerted undue influence" in Gwendolyn's decision to leave her entire estate to the foundation, of which they are both trustees. Cafritzs encouragement has particularly strengthened the Washington-area communitys appreciation of textiles as a vital form of artistic expression and global cultural heritage.". They keep china and glassware sufficient to serve hundreds. ", Conrad Cafritz is, in a word fondly used by friends, weird. Michael J. Dowling, who became the Cafritzes' butler in the early '60s, describes a tragically common decline. What do the younger sons of the celebrated Washington hostess hope to gain by waging legal war over their mother's will?