Nathan Philip “Nate” Shafran, 86, Vice Chairman and Executive Vice President of Forest City Enterprises and the company’s longest-serving employee, passed away at the Cleveland Clinic Hospital on Sunday, February 20, 2000, following a brief illness. Mr. Shafran was born in Detroit to Joseph and Mary Shafran, the second of the couple’s three children. He moved to Cleveland in the 1920s and graduated from Cleveland’s Glenville High School in 1933. He sold hair products before he married Fannye Ratner in 1939. He then joined her in the family’s business, then known as Forest City Materials Co. He began his career in Forest City Enterprises' day-to-day lumber and building supply operations and eventually oversaw the company's extensive millwork assembly plant on Cleveland’s West Side. The company became a leading developer of federally-subsidized housing, and helped position Forest City as a national force in large-scale real estate development. Mr. Shafran founded the State of Israel Bonds organization in Cleveland, the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and the Solomon Schlechter Jewish Day School in Cleveland Heights. Mr. Shafran served on the boards of Suburban Hospital, B’nai B'rith Hillel, Park Synagogue, and Red Feather, a forerunner of the United Way. He served as President of Park Synagogue from 1977 to 1981. Through his work with Forest City’s unionized labor force, Mr. Shafran became involved in the activities of Teamsters Local 131 and served as a trustee of the Teamsters Pension Fund. His work on federally-subsidized senior citizens housing projects led to his ongoing concern with the lives of older adults. Mr. Shafran is predeceased by his sister, Ann Schwartz. He is survived by his wife, Fannye Shafran (nee Ratner); his daughters, Joan Shafran (Rob Haimes) of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Paula Krulak of Manhattan, New York; his son, Joseph (Marla) Shafran, of University Heights; his younger sister, Faye Chase; his grandchildren, Roger (Francine) Krulak, Robert and Lora Krulak, Ilana, Eric, and David Shafran; and his great-grandchild, Julian.