Beloved school and community volunteer Joan Bauer was known for her good humor and spirit and would have loved the unusual way her name lives on at Bear Tavern Elementary School where she spent so many satisfying hours working with youngsters.

“She’s looking down on this and she’s very happy,” said her daughter, Lee Leeper, at a dedication ceremony today at the Bear Tavern playground.

Bauer, a founding member of the school’s Senior Volunteers group who passed away suddenly in 2008, was memorialized with the donation of a special playground swing for severely disabled children by the Hopewell Valley Lions Club. The retired gym teacher, who spent most of her 30-year career in East Brunswick public schools, was an active member of the local club and was its first woman member when she joined in the early 1990s.

Speaking at the dedication ceremony, Bauer’s longtime companion, Erwin Harbat, said the swing was a fitting tribute to a career gym teacher who appreciated the physical struggles of the disabled.

“She realized how these kids with disabilities love to do competitive things, too,” he said.

Harbat and Leeper were joined by husband Sam Leeper, principal Bruce Arcurio and several area Lions, including William Kibbel who spoke of Bauer’s dedication to community works, especially the club’s signature eyeglass collection program.

“Joan displayed a willing team spirit in our projects and the fundraising needed to support them. Her only time away from those activities was travel to visit her grandchildren,” said Kibbel.

Fellow Lion Carl Swanson, a retired educator himself and a longtime member of the Hopewell Valley Regional Board of Education, recalled Bauer’s energy and style – and her red Jeep. “You always knew when she came into the community,” Swanson cracked.

Arcurio remembered Bauer fondly, noting her help in getting the Senior Volunteers program off the ground in 2007 and adding a valuable dimension to a building of younger generations, which in past years included her granddaughters, Sara and Casey Leeper, now at Timberlane Middle School.

For the younger set, Bauer filled a grandmotherly role and, for teachers, she shared encouraging words and wisdom derived from 30 years in the classroom. “There are things youngsters won’t say to a 30-year-old and things 30-year-olds won’t say to a youngster,” Arcurio noted.

Participants in the school’s Senior Volunteers program serve as greeters, office helpers and classroom assistants.

Other Lions attending today’s ceremony were club president Paul Morin and member Larry Mansier.