We have nearly 40 years of experience and have been serving this area since 1976.
Rick Alpiar, Co-Founder (President)
Rick is a true native of Larchmont. (His grandparents' phone number was "Larchmont 4"!!) . He is a graduate of Mamaroneck High School and served in the United States Marine Corps as a member of the Marine Corps Intelligence Unit during the Vietnam War.
After earning his BA Degree in Economics from IONA College, Rick became an insurance underwriter for CHUBB Insurance. His work experience also included positions with Great American Insurance Company and Eagle Star Insurance Company, but CHUBB is where he obtained his "basic training" and licensing preparation.
Rick obtained his insurance license in 1978 and maintains his annual license renewal by regularly completing CE Insurance Course credits. He has earned a reputation for being "exceptionally well versed" in all phases of personal, family, business, and professional practice insurance.
In addition to co-founding ALPIAR & PAPA Insurance Specialists with his wife, Ann, in 1978, the two have built their firm's reputation for policy expertise, exceptional service, and for obtaining maximum client coverage at minimal expense... plus being "emergency-available" 24/7.
In his time away from the office—starting daily at 5pm, March through October—Rick runs and coaches "Rec" baseball league games, field practice and instruction. He has done this for many years in Larchmont and in his adopted hometown of New Rochelle.
When insurance and baseball fail to fill every available non-family moment, Rick continues to feed his lifelong interests in American history and all things Americana with books and films, and museum visits.
Ann Papa-Alpiar, Co-Founder (Vice President/Treasurer)
The oldest of seven Papa children (two brothers and four sisters), Ann's family moved to Pelham when she was just seven years-old. She grew up there and graduated from Pelham High School.
Ann earned both her BBA and MBA degrees from IONA College, with her BBA major in management and minor in marketing. Having excelled as an undergraduate, Ann was named recipient of both the "Iona College Management Award" and the prestigious "Wall Street Journal Student Achievement Award."
As you might guess, with her family in Pelham and Rick's in Larchmont—sandwiching their college careers in between—the newlyweds opted for compromise and moved to the middle of their Larchmont/Pelham sandwich (New Rochelle) to raise their family.
Their son Christopher, who earned his Master's Degree in education, is currently completing his first decade of high school biology/geometry teaching in Asia. Their daughter Casey is fulltime employed at ALPIAR & PAPA (See below).
Besides maintaining family ties and raising her own family while co-founding ALPIAR & PAPA Insurance Specialists, Ann has managed to make the time and energy it takes to be deeply involved with the Girl Scouts of the USA.
She served as Service Unit Manager for New Rochelle Girl Scouts from 2005 to 2018, and still leads two Girl Scout Troops in the evenings after putting the business to bed for the night, while remaining "on-call" for client emergencies.
Casey Alpiar, Licensed Agent
"Business and baseball are both all about teamwork," Casey says, and she has set the stage for that thinking over the past four years...promoting teamwork with Rick and Ann, with the rest of the staff and with the firm's personal insurance clients...helping to fill everyone's needs.
On the personal end of things, Casey (a Gold Award Girl Scout herself) helps Ann with managing two New Rochelle Girl Scout troops. They lead annual springtime camping trips to a YMCA cabin two hours north into Connecticut, which traditionally includes visits to the Connecticut Science Center and Museum.
In between-as you might guess-Casey spends a couple of days a week as a baseball "fielding specialist teacher" coaching her own 11-12 year-old boys Little League team and her own 7-8 year-old girls YBNR (Youth Baseball New Rochelle) team.
A graduate of New Rochelle High School and a graduate of The Art Institute in Center City Philadelphia.
Casey's life and team philosophy: "Have fun and learn!"
Roma Grogan - Claims Manager/Agent and Customer Service Representative
"Roma has the skills and training to step up and perform, and represent our clients' needs and interests when the pressure is on," says Rick. "She is a true asset to our business."
Roma grew up in North Carolina. She graduated from Belmont Abbey College as an English Lit major, and then moved to New York to pursue musical theater.
Life had other plans for her as she ended up working for a British bank as a Money Market Trader, but did some cabaret singing on the side.
Roma met her husband Tom through the market. They had the opportunity to live in England for five years, and then came back to the US and have resided in New Rochelle for the past twenty years.
They have three grown children: Ciara, Michael and Kaitlyn...plus are the proud grandparents of Izabela.
Caitlin Dupres - Licensed Agent, Commercial lines Specialist
Caitlin brings her sense of outdoor adventure and exploration indoors to Alpiar & Papa's near-half-century old Insurance Specialists firm.
Caitlin, who comes from "a big New Rochelle family" of nine (9!) brothers and sisters, has built much of her life around childhood interests in discovery and perfecting skills that make the most of the great outdoors...she is an avid hiker with innate skills as an amateur geologist.
Caitlin is also a graduate of New Rochelle High School, and a 2017 graduate of Lehman College, where she was a member of the Lehman College Swim Team.
Having had considerable experience working for her Dad's auto parts store and gaining a wealth of information that relates to auto part replacements and insurance coverage, Caitlin has begun her insurance business journey by making I.D. cards, processing insurance policy renewals, preparing mailings and being on-call to process specialized computer and paperwork.
On top of all these experiences and activities, Caitlin is most proud of her daughter Viviana, son Abraham and her first responder husband, Abel, who is a New York City Police Officer, working the Hunts Point Section of the Bronx.