Macomb County

Richard Whitmer, ex-Blue Cross CEO and father of the Michigan governor, dead at 85

Published

2 days ago

January 27, 2026

MM Team

By Craig Mauger, cmauger@detroitnews.com

Richard Whitmer, former chief of well being insurer Blue Cross Blue Protect of Michigan and father of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, has died, the governor’s workplace introduced Tuesday. He was 85.

Richard Whitmer, who glided by Dick, beforehand served in state authorities, together with as secretary of commerce for former Gov. Invoice Milliken, a Republican, earlier than becoming a member of Blue Cross Blue Protect. He served because the insurer’s senior vice chairman and common counsel starting in 1977 earlier than changing into president and CEO a decade later, based on the Western Michigan College alumni affiliation. He resigned from this place in 2006.

His daughter, Gretchen, grew to become the state’s Democratic governor about 13 years later, taking workplace in early 2019. She was re-elected to her second time period in 2022 and is at present in her closing yr as governor resulting from Michigan time period limits.

“He was the one who all the time noticed my potential and believed in me, from my first speech in fifth grade to my State of the State as governor,” Gretchen Whitmer mentioned in an announcement Tuesday. “He was all the time there, whether or not he was sitting at the back of the classroom or within the entrance row of the Home of Representatives, to encourage me.

“He was the one who picked me up after I was in hassle, or advised me to do my greatest after I tousled. When my grades have been lagging in highschool, he impressed me to meet my potential. Due to his encouragement, I did.”

In a 2005 assertion asserting Richard Whitmer’s impending retirement, Gregory Sudderth, chairman of the Blue Cross board, labeled Richard Whitmer a “nice and gifted CEO.”

“He formed the Blues into the profitable, aggressive, customer-focused group that it’s at present,” Sudderth mentioned in 2005. “We’re lucky to have had his management for the previous seventeen years.”

Tricia Keith, present president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Protect of Michigan, mentioned in an announcement Tuesday that Richard Whitmer’s tenure was historic and got here at a important time for the group, which was going through a monetary disaster.

“Dick Whitmer’s management stabilized Blue Cross’s funds, repaired {our relationships} and helped our firm emerge from the disaster of the Nineteen Eighties,” Keith mentioned. “Dick Whitmer was a pacesetter of integrity and steadfastness.

“He set Blue Cross on a path to develop, compete and serve in a brand new century. He championed transparency and integrity. His tenure was marked by dramatically improved relations between administration and labor, based mostly on mutual respect and a spirit of cooperation.”

Former Gov. Jim Blanchard, a Democrat, mentioned he first met Richard Whitmer when Whitmer was working for Milliken, who took workplace as governor in 1969. On the time of their assembly, Richard Whitmer was Secretary of Commerce, a excessive place in state authorities for somebody of their late 20s or early 30s, Blanchard mentioned.

“All through his profession he was a really gracious particular person and a really understated, humble particular person,” Blanchard mentioned.

At Blue Cross, Richard Whitmer initially served because the group’s advocate to state authorities throughout a time of acrimony with some state officers, Blanchard mentioned.

“He was in a position to easy out relations, which, I feel, was to the good thing about each the Blue Cross and the state,” Blanchard mentioned.

Richard Whitmer obtained his bachelor’s diploma from Western Michigan College and his regulation diploma from the College of Michigan, based on the governor’s workplace.

S. Martin Taylor, one other former state official, met Richard Whitmer at Western Michigan College and maintained a friendship with him for greater than sixty years.

“He was only a stable man together with his personal rules and morals,” Taylor recalled.

When requested what achievements Richard Whitmer was most happy with, Taylor mentioned they have been in all probability his three kids, Gretchen, Richard and Liz.

“He was dedicated to them,” Taylor mentioned.

Blanchard mentioned Richard Whitmer inspired Gretchen Whitmer to consider public life and get entangled in authorities. Richard, like his daughter, was an astute politician, Blanchard mentioned.

In her assertion Tuesday, Gretchen Whitmer described her father as “my greatest pal, most trusted counselor and neighbor till I moved into the Governor’s Residence.”

“I would not be the place I’m and who I’m with out my dad,” she mentioned. “As we speak I’m unhappy, however I’m additionally grateful. I’m grateful for the time we spent collectively, for the issues he taught me, and the tales I’ll carry with me ceaselessly.”