Mrs. Mary Kennedy Tays, of Cambridge, died Saturday, April 18, 2008 in her daughter’s home, after an illness. She was 89.

Her husband, Robert Duncan Tays died in 1986. Her siblings, John J. Kennedy and Esther Kennedy Lavin predecease her.

Mary was born June 18, 1919 in Cambridge, a daughter of the late George and Hannah (Sullivan) Kennedy and lived in Cambridge most of her life prior to moving with her daughter a short while ago. She was a graduate of the former Cambridge Latin High School, now Cambridge Rindge & Latin School and the former Chandler Business School for Women.

Mrs. Kennedy Tays was a secretary at Harvard University in the Psychology Department for over 10 years, retiring in 2001. Previously, she worked as an administrative assistant in the Cambridge City Councilor’s Office and in the office of the former Lieutenant Governor Thomas P. O’Neil III.

Mary leaves her daughter, Hannah Duncan Tays of Waltham; her brothers, George H. Kennedy of Scituate and Francis P.X. Kennedy of San Francisco, California; many nieces and nephews; grand nieces and grand nephews.

A Funeral Service will be held at 10:00 a.m. Thursday, April 23, in The Stanton Funeral Home, 786 Mount Auburn Street, (Route 16), Watertown. Visiting hour from 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. in the funeral home. Relatives and friends respectfully invited to attend. Interment in Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge.