Caesar J. Naples, 85, attorney, expert in educational labor relations
“Day Too Short for Top Hutch Pupil,” a headline in The Buffalo Evening News proclaimed in November 1955.
Subject of the article was Caesar J. Naples. A senior at Hutchinson Central Technical High School, his days were a whirlwind of activities.
Not only was he an honor student, he also was co-editor of the school newspaper, which he had organized; a member of the debate team, senior class secretary and captain of the tennis team. Working with the school guidance counselor, he revived the moribund Student Council. And then on Sundays, after school and during summer vacations, he was a busboy at Oliver’s Restaurant.
In the meantime, he had leading roles that extended elsewhere into the city and the region. He was president of the Inter-High Student Council, which represented all the city’s high schools and president of the Buffalo Area Hi-Y Council, which comprised clubs at 52 schools. As Inter-High leader, he worked with then-Associate School Superintendent Joseph Manch to develop the Dress Right program, a standard dress code for all schools, after Manch presented it to the Student Council. When it gained national recognition, he appeared with Manch on national television to talk about it.
Mr. Naples went on to a long career in educational affairs as an attorney and top administrator at the local and state levels in New York and California.
He died June 11 in Sarasota, Fla., after a period of declining health. He was 85.
Born in Buffalo, the oldest of three boys, he was the son of Caesar M. and Euphemia “Fannie” Occhipinti Naples. His father, a Buffalo Police detective, died in an auto accident in 1957. At School 18, he received the Jesse Ketchum Award, presented to the eighth-grade student with the highest academic average. Graduating from Hutch Tech in 1956, he went to Yale University on a full scholarship.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in English literature in 1960 and was offered one of the first full-tuition scholarships for the University of Buffalo Law School. He completed his juris doctor degree in 1963.
As a first lieutenant stationed in Germany during his two years in the Army, he received commendations. Returning from service, he began his legal career with the Buffalo firm then known as Moot, Sprague, Marcy, Landy and Fernbach.
He became attorney for the newly formed Buffalo Teachers Federation, which was threatening to go on strike, and ironed out a working agreement with the Board of Education.
He then was sought by other teachers’ organizations, as well as librarians at the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library. He became recognized as an expert on the state’s Taylor Law, which governs public employees, and in early 1969 was named counsel and staff director for a State Senate committee in Albany investigating the law.
Later that year Gov. Nelson Rockefeller appointed him to the post of assistant director of the State Office of Employee Relations, where he represented the state in its negotiations with unions. Two years later he became assistant vice chancellor for employee relations for the State University of New York system.
Mr. Naples went on to serve as a consultant with other states drafting similar laws, then was hired as general counsel for the Florida Board of Regents.
After nearly 10 years in Tallahassee, he moved to the Los Angeles area to become vice chancellor for the California State University system, negotiating labor agreements and overseeing human resources operations. He also led searches to find new presidents when vacancies arose at the system’s 23 campuses.
Retiring from that position, in 1992 he joined the faculty at California State University, Long Beach, where he developed a specialized high school, the California Academy of Math and Science, which recruited inner-city students from Los Angeles. Almost all of its graduates go on to four-year colleges and universities.
He took emeritus status in 2002 and continued to serve as a higher education consultant for several more years.
In retirement, he built a home on the north shore of Lake Tahoe, Calif., then lived briefly in North Carolina before moving to an assisted living community in Florida.
He enjoyed skiing and the arts, particularly opera.
He was married in 1983 to Sandra Harrison, then a human relations administrator working in higher education. In addition to his wife, survivors include a daughter, Jennifer Naples Darby; a son, Caesar IV; Sandra’s daughter, Deirdre Steinmetz; a brother, Robert J., retired dean of students at the University of California, Los Angeles; and two grandsons.
A private celebration of his life will be held in Buffalo.