Although Margaret Rose Kennedy, a Massapequa resident for 29 years, studied business and was a successful business manager, her true talent and calling was in her ability to touch the lives of others. She was affectionate, greeting friends and family with big hugs said her family. She was an active listener, always remembering anniversaries and birthdays. When she knew of people going through difficult times, she would buy and give them angel pins. And, through the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging, she donated money monthly to a Liberian child who recently finished school and immigrated to the United States.

"Through her everyday life she made people feel valued," said her daughter Nicole Kennedy.

At about the same time Mrs. Kennedy was diagnosed with breast cancer, several people she knew were also diagnosed with cancer. She sent them cards and information, said her daughter.

"She was a big support while she was going through her own illness," she added.

Mrs. Kennedy died from an infection that resulted from breast cancer treatment. She had battled cancer for four years.

Mrs. Kennedy was born in Brooklyn on February 5, 1942, and attended school there, before living briefly in the Bronx and Queens. In 1970 she married Gerald Kennedy at Blessed Sacrament in Queens. She and Mr. Kennedy met at a card game and Mr. Kennedy said he was instantly attracted to the kindness and ease with which she interacted with other people. They moved to their home on West Shore Drive in Massapequa in 1974.

"The sense of community was really good," said her husband of their move to Massapequa. "We felt welcome to volunteer at school and even got caught up in the soccer craze."

Mrs. Kennedy was a class mother for many years and the first soccer game Mr. Kennedy ever saw, he coached. A sense of community was important to Mrs. Kennedy, and she involved her children in library and church activities, said her daughter.

Mrs. Kennedy worked as a business manager at Vanderbilt Chemical in Manhattan before leaving in 1973 to have children. She went back to work as a business manager at Liberty Mutual in 1982 and in 1983 began work at Northrop Grumman, where she was scheduled to retire in December.

In 1992 she received a bachelor’s of science in business from SUNY Farmingdale. She had expressed her desire to go back to school, but felt she was only a housewife, said her husband. She decided to enroll after he made a deal with her. He would go back to school for his master’s like he always wanted, if she went to school for her bachelor’s, he said. They arranged a schedule for picking up the kids, and after a "hectic, but fun" time, Mrs. Kennedy finished her studies in six years.

In 1992 she also began working with the United Way. Using her business sense for social work, she helped with fundraisers and eventually sat on the United Nations Allocation Committee, helping not-for profits use United Way funding more efficiently.

In her spare time, Mrs. Kennedy enjoyed shopping at the Massapequa Mall and spending weekends at Tobay Beach on the family’s boat. She attended church regulary and volunteered with Habitat for Humanity and March of Dimes.

In addition to her husband, Mrs. Kennedy is survived by her daughter Nicole Kennedy of Baltimore, Md., and her son Joseph Paul Kennedy of Massapequa; and her grandson Ryan and his mother Christi Lawson. Also surviving her are her brother Jim Dragone and his wife Jean of Ridge, and her brother Thomas Dragone and his wife Michelle of Commack.

Mrs. Kennedy reposed at the Massapequa Funeral Home South Chapel, and a funeral mass was said at St. Rose of Lima. Interment followed at Grace Cemetery.