Dawn Clements urged people to get vaccinated after the death of England and Birmingham City footballer Jeff Hall from the disease in 1959.
Mrs Clements, of Kidderminster, died at the end of last month, aged 79.
The British Polio Fellowship said there are many people alive and well "who owe her a huge debt of gratitude."
Ted Hill, the charity's chief executive also commended Mrs Clements for helping shine a light on post-polio syndrome (PPS), which is a neurological condition that can occur in people who have had polio.
"It can be difficult to imagine now a time in the UK when polio was killing and paralysing thousands like Jeff," he said.
"Dawn worked to see that no one else had to go through what she did and latterly helped us with our PPS work."
Mr Hall's unexpected death at the peak of his career aged 29 shocked the nation. Take-up of the polio vaccine had been slow in the 1950s but Mrs Clements' campaign is credited with inspiring people to get vaccinated.
The charity head described Mrs Clements, who was diagnosed with lung cancer three years ago, as "an example to us all" He also passed on his condolences to her surviving husband Alan Clements.
Mr Clements thanked charities as well as the people of Birmingham for "assisting Dawn in all of her remarkable work".
"What she did 50 years ago during the worst time of her life still matters to people. Dawn would want me to thank the fans of Birmingham City and all those for all of their help and support," he said.

The 48-year-old ex-Oxford manager has guided the Cobblers to promotion from League Two this season, after a series of financial problems at the club.
Wilder is currently on a one-year rolling contract with the League Two side.
Jimmy Phillips has been in charge of Bolton since Neil Lennon left in March but could not prevent relegation.
Wanderers chairman Ken Anderson said on Monday that the club had a shortlist of three managers from applications they had received and hoped to make an appointment soon.
The Championship's bottom side have also confirmed that assistant manager Steve Walford and first-team coach Garry Parker have left the club.

Clive Weatherhogg's counsel told appeal judges that prosecutors now conceded there had been a miscarriage of justice over the coercion charge.
Appeal judges also agreed that a jury was misdirected over charges relating to the footage sent to relatives.
Mr Weatherhogg, 43, was jailed last May after being found guilty by a jury.
It is understood he will now be released from prison.
Sheriff George Way had remitted the case from Dundee Sheriff Court to the High Court in Edinburgh to be dealt with because of its greater sentencing powers.
Defence counsel Shelagh McCall QC told the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh that the Crown conceded there was insufficient evidence to prove lack of consent on the coercion charge.
The Lord Justice Clerk, Lady Dorrian, who heard the appeal with Lady Paton and Lord Turnbull, said: "We are satisfied the concession is well made."
Lord Turnbull said that information conveyed to the court seemed to show that even at an earlier preparatory marking stage in the case there were concerns over a lack of corroboration.
Lady Dorrian said the appeal judges were also satisfied that misdirections given to jurors by Sheriff Way over the charges relating to the footage sent to relatives were "material and constituted a miscarriage of justice".
Mr Weatherhogg, of Guthrie, near Forfar, Angus, had denied the charges during the trial, but admitted a separate charge of uploading the film to the internet.
He was jailed for four-and-years by Lady Wolffe with an additional 18 months for the charge he admitted.
The appeal hearing was told that Mr Weatherhogg had been in custody since March last year and had served the 18 month sentence, taking into account early release provisions.
Tributes have been paid to a woman credited with raising awareness about the dangers of polio following the death of her footballer husband.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
Northampton's Chris Wilder is Bolton's preferred choice to be their next manager, BBC Radio Manchester reports.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
A man jailed for six years for coercing a woman into having sex with a stranger and sending "revenge porn" to her family has had the convictions quashed.