Erin Crider always liked to build things, to figure out how they work and ways to make them work better.
“Even as a child, she was always building things with Legos,” her mom, Joyce, said. “She liked to keep busy. She was very analytical and extremely intelligent.”
Those qualities took Erin far.
The 2002 Wyomissing High School graduate would earn three engineering degrees, and then build an extraordinary career as a mechanical engineer working jobs with the State Department, White House and Navy.
She was the only woman — and the youngest person under 60 — who knew how to manage the White House HVAC system. She served as the design and construction manager for President Joe Biden’s and Vice President Kamala Harris’ second residences.
Starting her career serving in a civilian capacity, Erin later enlisted in the Navy to further her career and continue to serve her country.
It was in that capacity, as a Navy lieutenant, that she was deployed to a U.S. base in Djibouti, Africa. While there, she was killed in a noncombat accident.
Her funeral was held in late January at Kuhn Funeral Home in West Reading. The 41-year-old Erin is survived by her wife, Anna Boulos.
The Navy has not released details of the accident.
Today, Erin’s purposeful and prolific service to her country will be celebrated and her memory honored. She is being recognized posthumously as grand marshal of the 2026 Wyomissing Memorial Day Parade.
Her parents, Berks County natives Bill and Joyce Crider, will take part in the parade and memorial service, with Joyce laying the Gold Star Family Wreath in memory of Erin and in honor of all families who have lost a loved one in service to the nation.
In advance of the ceremony, the couple spoke with the Reading Eagle about their beloved daughter.
Erin Crider poses with her parents, Bill and Joyce Crider on her wedding day in 2024. (Courtesy of the Crider family)
Early life
Erin was born in Reading Hospital on July 19, 1984.
She was Bill and Joyce’s only child, precocious and clever from the start.
“We always thought she could argue a point like a lawyer and thought she would end up in law school,” Joyce said, adding that Erin was “the pride and joy of our family.”
The late U.S. Navy Lt. Erin Crider grew up in Wyomissing. (Courtesy of the Crider family)
Of course, Erin wasn’t always perfect.
“She got into some trouble too,” Joyce said with a laugh. “When she was in high school she was with a couple of her friends and they were shooting off fireworks and got chased by the police.”
But, for the most part, Erin was a good kid. Besides excelling in school, she was a tremendous athlete.
She competed in soccer, cross country and bowling through high school and eventually found Ultimate Frisbee the summer before her senior year while spending two weeks at West Point. She would go on to found, captain and star on ultimate frisbee teams across the U.S. and participated in international tournaments, including two World Cups.
Erin Crider, a Wyomissing High School graduate, founded and starred on several ultimate frisbee teams across the U.S.(Courtesy of the Crider family)
An impressive resume
After graduating from Wyomissing, Erin headed off to study engineering at Penn State.
While on summer break, she worked for the Army Corps of Engineers at Blue Marsh Lake. And while working on her master’s degree in mechanical engineering and engineering management at University of Colorado in Boulder she was hired by the federal government to work as a civilian at a Navy base near Seattle.
She would go on to serve as a construction engineer at a base in San Diego, working on projects related to security up and down the West Coast.
“Much of what she did we never knew because her security clearance was so high she could only tell us bits and pieces of it,” Joyce said.
Along with the important work Erin was doing professionally in San Diego, she had some personal success. It’s where she would meet Boulos, whom she married in July 2024.
From San Diego, Erin headed back east to take a job at the White House. While working there, she decided to enlist — only telling her parents after graduating basic training because she knew they would worry.
“She had reached the highest rank that a civilian could, but she was always under the command of military personnel,” Joyce explained. “So enlisting would put her on the same level.”
Erin would go on to graduate from the Navy Officer Development School as a reserve civil engineering corps officer in June 2022. She served as officer-in-charge for the Naval Construction Forces’ Innovative Readiness Training program, providing real-world training for military personnel while addressing critical infrastructure needs in underserved communities domestically and abroad.
At the time of her death she was director of construction for the Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command in Washington.
U.S. Navy Lt. Erin Crider is shown on base while on active duty. She was killed in a noncombat incident in January at a military base in Africa. (Courtesy of the Crider family)
A bright light
While Erin definitely had a deep devotion to her career, that wasn’t her sole focus.
Her parents say she was effervescent, always smiling and surrounded by friends.
“Erin loved to travel,” Joyce said. “And she could have taken a plane to any city and had a friend there who would pick her up. She made friends wherever she went.”
Her devotion to those friends ran deep.
“She would give you the shirt off her back,” Joyce said. “If you were a friend, you were a friend for life. She was generous to a fault.”
The late Erin Crider, a Berks County native, was a big supporter of the Reading Fightin Phils. This photo was taken a game where she and her partner exchanged vows on the field before the game. (Courtesy of the Crider family)
That was made even clearer to Joyce with a story she learned at Erin’s funeral. There was a basket where people attending could place condolences cards for the family. When Joyce peeked in, she spied a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. One of her daughter’s friends from school told Joyce she had put it there because every time she sees one she thinks of Erin. It turns out they ate lunch together every day in elementary school. And, every day, Joyce would pack her daughter a peanut butter cup.
Erin would split that treat into little pieces and share it with everyone at the table.
“And that was Erin,” Joyce said. “When she loved you, she loved you hard. She was a really good person with the biggest heart.”
Erin was also known for being game for new experiences.
Erin Crider, a 2002 graduate of Wyomissing High School who was killed in January while serving in the mililtary, was known for her adventurous spirit. (Courtesy of the Crider family)
“She had an adventurous soul,” Joyce said.
Erin went on safari in Africa, cave diving in Japan and enjoyed exploring the great outdoors in her Volkswagen camper van with her beloved dogs.
“She had unlimited energy,” Bill said. “She did not like to be bored and was never content just sitting around.”
“I sometimes think she might have had an innate knowledge that her life might not be long and there was an urgency to fill it with everything she wanted to do,” Joyce added.
Erin Crider, a Berks County native who was killed while serving her country, traveled extensively. (Courtesy of the Crider family)