Erin B. Tancraitor

Erin Beth Tancraitor, age 47, of Indiana, passed, Wednesday, April 8, 

at UPMC Altoona after an ongoing series of health problems.

She was born October 28, 1978 at Indiana Hospital to James and Marsha (Whalen) Tancraitor.

Erin was a 1997 graduate of Indiana High School, where she played in the Marching Band. She attended Lasell University in Newton, Massachusetts before her graduation from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. After graduation she was hired in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where as Director of Catering she oversaw a wide variety of community events, including for the Santa Fe Opera, Hollywood film location shoots, destination weddings, and community and political functions, including the inauguration of New Mexico's governor.  In this capacity, her natural warmth and caring nature, brought her into exchanges with a variety of celebrities, including Queen Noor of Jordan, actor Adam Sandler (with whom she shared a dance with) and Broadway andfilm star Carol Channing (with whom she sang numbers from Broadway shows.) Upon leaving New Mexico she was hired as Catering Manager for Parkhurst, where she organized and managed food service events for Pittsburgh's most-visited museum.

She returned to Indiana to work in catering at St. Andrews Village, before moving on to work for the Indiana Social Center.  Participants there enjoyed her regular healthy-cooking classes and the bagged lunches prepared for them during the Covid pandemic. Erin also enjoyed working at Yarnick’s Farm Market Saturday morning’s where she enjoyed visiting with her customers. She was a member of Grace Church in Indiana. Erin loved the outdoors, from hiking in New Mexico and on the Hoodlebug Trail in Indiana County, to kayaking through the locks on the Allegheny River. She attended Orvis fly fishing school and bagged a deer on her own.  

She was a self-professed "Disney Nerd" and had made dozens of trips to various Disney properties in Florida, California and France. She loved Broadway shows, making trips to New York, and was a regular at the Benedum Center. She was able to meet both satellite radio Broadway host Seth Rudetsky and Tony Award winner Terrence Mann. Erin will be sorely missed by her parents, Marsha (Whalen) and Jim Tancraitor of Indiana, her brother and sister-in-law Tom and Kayla Tancraitor of Indiana, three nephews, Declan, Tate and Whalen Tancraitor, several aunts and uncles, cousins and by her many special friends and co-workers.

Friends will be received on Saturday April 18, 2026, from 9 am until the time of the service at 11 am at Grace Church.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Grace Church, 50 S. 7th Street, Indiana, PA 15701, Indiana Free Library, 845 Philadelphia St., Indiana, PA, American Kidney Foundation, at kidney.org  

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