“AN UNSTOPPABLE FORCE”: That’s how one of her children described Sarah “Tink” Bolster, who died last week at the age of 88. A mother of 14 who found time to play a major role in Princeton’s athletic community, she is shown here with her husband, Joe, and seven of her sons. On the top row, from left, are Richard, Jim, Joe, Thomas, and Andy Bolster. Seated next to their parents are John and Michael.

Her small stature earned Sarah Martha Murdock Bolster the name “Tink,” as in Tinkerbell, and it stuck throughout her life. But Mrs. Bolster, who died Thursday just two days after turning 88, leaves a huge legacy of children (14), grandchildren (20), and a long list of devoted friends and colleagues, many from Princeton’s close-knit community of swimming enthusiasts.

Mrs. Bolster founded the Princeton Area Masters program in 1972, for adults 18 and older. She directed the program until 2008, opening the pool early each morning and putting in the lane lines. She was also involved in the renovation of Community Park Pool and Nassau Swim Club, among other endeavors.

“She started swimming at 40,” recalled daughter Mary Bolster, who is the seventh child in the family. “She knew how to swim before that, but got very serious then and started competing. She loved it and did very well, setting records and going traveling with the program. Meanwhile, my Dad was very supportive, holding down the fort and coming to meets. She swam until she was 60, and then decided to do triathlons. She competed until she was 75.”

The couple lived at Princeton University’s Butler Tract housing for graduate students until just before the birth of their fifth child (Joe Bolster is a graduate of Princeton University’s class of 1952). They met on a ship bound for Britain in 1951. “She was going over to study art history, and he was on the Princeton track team,” Ms. Bolster said. “She knew all these other men on the team and they introduced her to him.”

The Bolsters remained devoted to each other throughout their 63-year marriage. “I used to see them out on their morning walk when I’d be on my way to work at Princeton High School,” said Marc Anderson, who is now the assistant track coach at Princeton University and knew the family well. “They weren’t walking fast — just taking their time, enjoying the day. The thing that would strike you is that they were always holding hands. To this day, my wife comments on that. It’s just one of the ways that they were a great couple.”

Juggling 14 children with a busy life outside the home was an art at which Mrs. Bolster excelled. “My mother was unbelievably organized,” said Ms. Bolster. “She was driven and indomitable, an unstoppable force. She got up at 5:30, swam, came home, got breakfast, cleaned all six bathrooms, took us to school, and did it like clockwork. She maintained baby books for every one of us and they are bursting at the seams. Every detail is in there, and it’s such a treasure to us. She wasn’t so driven that we never hung out with her, but she had the energy of 100 people.”

When the children brought friends over, Mrs. Bolster took the time to get to know them. “She had this curiosity about people. She wanted to sit down with someone and learn what they were like. And she was never bored,” her daughter said. “She always wanted to learn about a new place, a new skill. She never lost the desire to meet new people, experience new things, and learn new facts.”

The family’s annual holiday card was famous because it expanded as the 20 grandchildren were born. “She kept in touch with all of us all the time,” Ms. Bolster said. “Not only birthday cards, but holiday cards, too — and we all got them. She remembered every grandchild’s birthday.”

Mr. Anderson was chairman of Princeton High School’s Athletic Hall of Fame when the Bolster parents were inducted in 2010. “The family had so many great athletes, and I think there was a time when they had someone in almost every grade in the Princeton Regional School system,” he said. “We thought about which of them might be the most deserving of going in. We didn’t want to leave anybody out, so we decided the way to go was to induct the Mom and Dad for doing an incredible job of raising great young people and turning out amazing athletes in the process.”

Ms. Bolster remembers that her parents got a standing ovation when they were given the award. “We were all there,” she recalled. “It was a wonderful moment for her and for our family.”

Mrs. Bolster loved Princeton. “She was a passionate supporter of everything related to the town,” she said. “She was very involved in the recreation department and the Community Pool, as well as in the public school system, the University swimming program, and the Nassau Swim Club. She gave a lot of money as well as her time.”

Sandy Thatcher, of the University’s class of ’65, got to know Mrs. Bolster when he was secretary of the Friends of Princeton Swimming and a member of Princeton Area Masters. Upon hearing of her passing last week, he sent an email to other colleagues. He last saw her at an alumni swim meet last year.

“She seemed her normal peppy self, though she admitted that physical injuries had been taking a toll on her body,” he wrote. “But we all came to think of Tink as virtually indestructible, capable of withstanding all kinds of physical challenges that would have felled us lesser mortals. She came to be so used to having babies that she would work out until almost time to go to the hospital for the next delivery, and within a week she’d be back at the pool …. She is one of a kind, and she will be sorely missed.”