direction: As a youngster, he’d
never imagined such a life.
At Central High, astonishing-
ly, he had no inkling as to a
future career. Fortuitously, a
relative stepped in.
“My Uncle Sam Geller
encouraged me to become a
certified public accountant,”
he said. “He told me to take
bookkeeping in high school
and then come to work for his
accounting firm while taking
college courses at night and
on the weekends.”
Naftaly graduated from
Walsh College in 1959 with
a degree in accountancy and
financial management. Later
he would serve as the school’s
alumni association president
and a trustee; he also received
Walsh’s distinguished alum-
nus award and an honorary
doctorate.
Now based in Troy, Walsh
in those days was located in
Downtown Detroit. Attending
night school meant snagging
a decent parking spot and
avoiding the meter maid.
Night students “were all in the
same boat — working at an
accounting office or business
during the day,” he said in a
profile published by Walsh.
“Going to school was tiring,
especially during tax season,
but I always liked it. All the
teachers were professional
people, so we got a practical
education as well as book
learning.”
He worked and co-managed
the Detroit-based account-
ing firm of Geller, Naftaly,
Herbach & Shapero for more
than 20 years. Following
Jim Blanchard’s election as
Michigan governor in 1982,
Naftaly volunteered to serve
on a “crisis committee” prob-

ing the state’s financial con-
dition, which turned out to
be more precarious than was
generally understood.
“The state was insolvent,”
he said. “The previous admin-
istration had been accounting
for income on an accrual
basis and expense on a cash
basis.” In other words, kicking
financial obligations down
the road. Michigan’s financial
condition appeared much
better than it was because the
state was booking expenses
and obligations only when
they were paid, instead of
when they were incurred —
an accounting no-no. A cash
crisis was inevitable.
“We had to institute prop-
er accounting and financial
processes,” Naftaly said.
“Otherwise, we were going
to run out of cash and not be
able to make payroll.”
Six months after volunteer-
ing his service to the com-
mittee, Blanchard appointed
Naftaly as Director of the
state’s Office of Management
and Budget. He served in that
post from 1983 to 1987. “By
the time I left, the state was
solvent again.”
Corporations took note of
his judgment and expertise
and sought him. After a
year as Vice President and
Auditor of Detroit Edison,
Blue Cross Blue Shield of
Michigan recruited him as
Executive Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer. Once
again, Naftaly was faced with
the task of straightening out
a giant organization beset by
money woes.
Like Michigan a few years
earlier, Blue Cross Blue Shield
in the late 1980s was more
or less broke and in need of

financial overhaul. Richard
Whitmer — father of current
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer —
was the health-care insurer’s
CEO. Naftaly got a green
light to clean house, hiring
a new finance staff, actuary
and controller. He then
dove into the minutia of the
organization’s financial and
actuarial practices, the nuts
and bolts of daily operations.
“The staff wondered what I
was doing,” he said. Insurance
rates had to be increased. The
state passed a “solvency tax” to
shore up finances. “We also had
to improve our relations with
the attorney-general’s office.”
Then-Attorney General
Frank Kelley had been hostile
to Blue Cross Blue Shield, on
one occasion filing lawsuits
accusing misuse of the
nonprofit organization’s tax-
free status. But the two knew
one another from Naftaly’s
days in state government. By
the time Naftaly retired 15
years later, the health-care
insurer boasted a surplus of
$1 billion.

SAVING NURSING HOME
OPTIONS FOR THE
JEWISH COMMUNITY

Mark Davidoff, a
longtime Detroit
accounting
and financial
executive who
considers himself
a Naftaly protégé,
says, “Bob
brings vision
and heart to the
solutions that must be found
for seemingly intractable
financial problems.”
Their relationship
eventually led to Davidoff’s
tenure as an executive of
the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit, and
later as a Partner with
Deloitte’s accounting and
consulting practices.
In the early 1990s,
Davidoff had been working
as the Chief Financial Officer
for the long-term care
subsidiary of what is now
Trinity Health Care.
“I get a call from Bob —
at that time serving on the

OUR COMMUNITY

16 | SEPTEMBER 30 • 2021

Mark
Davidoff

continued from page 15

Bob Naftaly was
highly trusted by
both the UAW and
the automakers.

GLENN TRIEST