Eric Cioppa, a respected former national and Maine insurance regulatory leader, passed away from Multiple System Atrophy on May 1 at his home in China, Maine.
Cioppa’s career included 33 years at the Maine Bureau of Insurance. He began in 1988 as a statistician and later advanced to deputy superintendent in 1998 before being named to the bureau’s top job of superintendent in 2011. He served as superintendent until his retirement in 2022.
Throughout his career, in addition to overseeing regulation of insurance in Maine, Cioppa was also involved with helping to set national priorities, develop model laws and regulations, and act as a leader for the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). Elected by his state peers, he served as president of the NAIC in 2019, vice president in 2017 and secretary in 2016 in addition to chairing and serving on numerous committees.
He also represented state insurance regulators on the U.S. Financial Stability Oversight Council for two terms in 2018 and 2020.
He was born in 1958, in Willsboro, New York, and was the youngest of five children of Anthony and Marion (Patterson) Cioppa.
He is predeceased by his parents, Anthony and Marion (Patterson) Cioppa, and his wife, Kathryn Ann.
He is survived by his daughter Ryann Fortney and husband, Chris, of Windham, Maine; son Zachary Cioppa and wife, Maureen, of China, Maine; grandchildren Callaway Fortney, Quinn Cioppa and Anthony Cioppa; siblings Tim Cioppa and his wife Elena, Terri Cioppa, Andrea Stewart and her husband Keith, Tracey Cioppa, as well as many nieces and nephews.
A Celebration of Life will be held on May 23 at the Maple Hill Farm, in Hallowell, Maine from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the China Village Volunteer Fire Department, PO Box 6035, China Village, ME 04926 or the Micheal J. Fox Foundation, P.O. Box 5014 Hagerstown, MD 21741.
Andrew Mais, former Connecticut insurance commissioner who is now with Deloitte, knew Cioppa as a colleague and friend.
“Eric was one of the best insurance regulators ever,” Mais wrote on LinkedIn.
But, Mais continues, there was much more to the husband, father, grandfather and friend.
“His was the quiet voice that we all listened to, that we all felt so supported by, that we all had faith in,” Mais says.
“Those of us who were privileged to know Eric knew someone so special, so caring, so giving, that the rest of us got better if just by osmosis. We can’t thank him enough,” Mais recalls.
Jeffrey C. Johnston, interim CEO at the NAIC, is one of the many who commented on Mais’s post. “We have all missed Eric’s wisdom and his masterful ways of channeling every regulatory issue back to policyholder protection,” he wrote.
“Very sad news. A career of steady and sterling service worth emulating,” noted Paul Tetrault, senior director and counsel with the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA).
Topics
Leadership
Maine
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