Friends of the late Pauline R. Boettger affectionately remember her as “The Original Bungalow Babe.”

Boettger, a lifelong resident of Tamaqua, spent a lot of time at the community’s Bungalow Pool.

On Thursday, friends hung a plaque to honor Boettger at the pool next to the spot where she usually sat.

Ingrid DeBellas and several other lifelong Bungalow members purchased the plaque. Never married, DeBellas said of Boettger, “Basically the community of kids at the pool were her kids. She was always there.”

Boettger, a 1943 graduate of Tamaqua High School, died on June 13, 2020. She was an employee of Tamaqua Borough for 31 years, retiring as the office manager.

On hand for the plaque installation besides DeBellas were Chris Huegel, Marge Huegel, Marianne Bright, Dian Fudge, Sharon Haldeman, Grandy Coogan, Kip Stomer, Helen Walters, Mary Gurcsik, Patricia Ann Burke and Cindy Collura Martin.

“This was her spot to sit,” DeBellas said as she held the plaque against a windowsill of a building inside the pool.

“You would always find her here. All of us were friends for years.”