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Calvin Cafritz, the eldest son of real estate developer Morris Cafritz, died last week at the age of 91. "She felt that was the end, when she couldn't function socially.". 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. We will miss his gracious and generous presence.. Distinguished D.C. Government Employees Recognized at Cafritz Awards Gala, Office of Communications & Marketing The control of so much money, especially in a city with limited corporate philanthropy, brings enormous power. . When the Duke and Duchess of Windsor came and danced downstairs in "the Club," with the dance floor lighted from below. In Remembrance. In Memoriam: Calvin Cafritz. 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. When he died, his estate was the largest ever probated in the District of Columbia. . Calvin, 58, who finds himself a defendant in this lawsuit, is usually described as gentlemanly, methodical and reserved. He is a leading supporter of the Global India Fund, and the Ukapav Indian-American Scholarship Foundation. But Gwendolyn sometimes took pains to tell friends that she herself was not Jewish. What kind of arrangement is appropriate, where should you send it, and when should you send an alternative? 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. Her statements in the press, even the adoring press of yore, suggest at the least a daunting mother. Perhaps as a result, he works hard, with much of Morris's old drive. Calvin Cafritz, a native and longtime resident of Washington, DC, was born March 29, 1931, as the eldest son of Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz. 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. In the '70s she became a near-recluse. Calvin's younger brothers, Conrad and Carter, are behind-the- scenes players in many business and charitable ventures players. Giving to charity is a meaningful way to honor someone who has died. 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. He died on Thursday, Jan. 12, at age 91. 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. Recognizably brothers, the youngest of them nearing his fifties, they were a striking presence at the party. Finally, there is the legacy contained in any will: The power to reward or to punish the living, to define or rearrange the narrative of a family's history. "She wanted something, and she put up with a lot of {expletive}, and she got it. "He's creative, he's smart, also ambitious, like his father. At the least, then, Gwendolyn's will disposes of more than $140 million. "I just thought she maybe had had enough of running around, and she was maybe going to stay in a while. Conrad and Carter Cafritz are pursuing this stake in two ways: One is a lawsuit naming all her beneficiaries and her executors -- William P. Rogers, Martin Atlas and Riggs National Bank. 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. 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. It is hard not to wonder what the effect might have been of hearing Gwendolyn Cafritz's will read for the first time. Aubinoe and Edwards also designed the Cafritzes' dramatic house on Foxhall Road. "Right at the moment he could be most charming, he does something to undercut it," says one friend. "He just wanted to build, build, build, build!" 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. 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. His most notable contribution was in the streamlined art deco apartment houses designed, either singly or together, by architects Alvin L. Aubinoe and Harry L. Edwards, including the Majestic, the Hightowers, the Empire and the since-demolished Gwenwood on 19th Street NW. (Conrad and Peggy were both involved in Barry's first election campaign, and Peggy is the godmother of Barry's son, Christopher.) All of their lives, the Cafritz boys have been aware of their status as the sons of Morris and Gwendolyn. But Carter and Conrad Cafritz are not named in their mother's will. . 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. He died on Thursday, Jan. 12, at age 91. Leave a sympathy message to the family in the guestbook on this memorial page of Calvin Cafritz to show support. ", 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. In 2001, the Cafritz Foundation gave $1 million toward the Cafritz Conference Center in the University Student Center. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. All rights reserved. To Edward R. Murrow, in a 1956 interview, she said that to speak of Washington cocktail parties was "unfair to Washington. 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. "Conrad was persistent as hell in getting that project," says one person familiar with Conrad's business. The mission of the foundation is improving the quality of life for all Washington, D.C., metropolitan-area residents, Boerstling said. Conrad's strange, and doesn't mind people thinking that he's strange; he kind of encourages it.". Here, still, was the art moderne house, nearly as startling in 1986 as it had been when Morris Cafritz built it for his young family almost 50 years earlier. Special Neighborhood Hang Out: Say Cheese! (His first wife, Jennifer, has since married Laughlin Phillips, son of Duncan and Marjorie Phillips and president of the Phillips Collection.). He began with houses, ultimately building about 10,000 homes in the Washington area. Small wonder that, as he approached his forties unmarried, he was one of the most eligible bachelors within the small, closed circle of Washington's Jewish society. Ways to honor Calvin Cafritz's life and legacy. 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. 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. 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. 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. If you know of an upcoming event for Calvin Cafritz, please add one. 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. And {Gwendolyn} was just considered comical, and there were a lot of jokes about her. Receive obituaries from the city or cities of your choice. Rogers had served as her personal attorney since her husband, Washington real estate magnate Morris Cafritz, died in 1964. 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. In 1929 he also built the since-demolished Ambassador Hotel, at 14th and K streets NW, where he and his family lived until 1938. "Lots of times she could drink and she knew exactly what she was doing. Today, he is married to Peggy Cooper Cafritz, who is a local power in the arts and in liberal political causes -- and the only Cafritz listed in Who's Who. "He took me into the kitchen and showed me how the cook would leave coffee for him in the morning," remembers the friend. "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. Washington, DC 20007 His commitment to causes and institutions extended beyond writing checks to giving time and energy. January 27, 2023. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a contribution to a charity of your choice. She was born January 30, 1936 in Kennett, MO to the late David Richard Roberts and Betty Burbank Roberts. . "The boys used to make a joke of their mother. Website by Red Clay Creative, Chances are, many Washingtonians might not even realize how much real estate the Cafritz family is responsible for in the area. 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.".