Ms. Mary Michael Kennedy Silver

Mary Michael Kennedy Silver passed away at the age of 82 on November 29, 2025, at Cottingham Hospice House in Seneca, SC. She will be dearly missed by her family and friends. Mary was born on March 11, 1943, in Albemarle, NC, where she grew up with her mother, Margaret Jenkins, and her family. Her mother expected a boy and decided to give Mary the middle name she had chosen, Michael. Mary had a very close relationship with her maternal grandmother, Patricia Littleton Jenkins, whom she adored. At ten years old, Mary and her mother moved to Germany, where they lived for three years during her stepfather John Kennedy’s service in the U.S. Air Force. They then moved to Louisiana, where her mother met and remarried a recent widower named Norman Sitterlet. In 1959, Mary moved with Norman, Margaret, and her five new step-siblings to Michigan, where she later met her first husband, Edward Simpson, and had a daughter named Margaret in 1966. After that marriage ended, she wed John O’Farrell, with whom she had three children, John, Michael, and Jill, and the family spent time in Canada and Florida before settling in Port Huron, MI in 1973. While her children were in middle and high school, Mary earned her GED and started attending St. Clair County Community College. She earned a nursing degree, graduating cum laude in 1981, and started her career as a nurse at the Port Huron Hospital. After her divorce from John O’Farrell, she continued to work and live in Port Huron before moving out west, where she spent time in Alaska and Washington before settling in Lakeside, Oregon in 1992. Her most loved job was working the night shift there as an orthopedic nurse at the Bay Area Hospital, where she had many cherished colleagues and friends. Upon retiring, Mary moved to Seneca, SC in 2008 to care for her mother, who passed away the following year. Mary enjoyed the outdoors and spent a lot of time fishing, shooting, and camping while living in coastal Oregon. When indoors, she enjoyed knitting and crocheting and would make special items for her friends, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Mary had a true heart for animals and provided a loving home for many rescued dogs and cats. She also loved her church, Friendship United Methodist in Seneca, and was committed to attending even when it became physically difficult to do so. Mary spent her last few months at the Seneca Health and Rehabilitation Center and her last week at Cottingham Hospice House in Seneca. The staff at both facilities were kind and loving, and the family deeply appreciates their dedication to her care and comfort in her final days. She is preceded in death by her parents, four ex-husbands, and her sister-in-law, Pat Sitterlet. Mary is survived by her step-siblings: Candy (Jim) Bennett, Fred (Debbie) Sitterlet, Charles Sitterlet, Carl (Barbara) Sitterlet, and Cheryl (Randy) Gilchrist; her children: Margaret (Ron) Bright, John O’Farrell, Mike (Sara) O’Farrell, and Jill Berry; her grandchildren: Amanda Lynn Bright, Hannah (Sandeep) Pandey, Julia Bright, Maddy O’Farrell, Molly O’Farrell, John O’Farrell, Hunter O’Farrell, Sara Berry, and Charlotte Berry; and great-grandchildren: Mary Astrid Bright, Naviana Pandey, and Vera Pandey; along with many nieces, nephews, and friends. She is also survived by her beloved chihuahua, Precious, who was her faithful companion at the end of her life. We love you and pray that you, Grandma Sitterlet, and Grandma Pattie enjoy being together again in heaven. A memorial service will be held on December 13, 2025, at 4:30 PM at Friendship United Methodist Church, 1341 Friendship Road, Seneca, SC 29678. Flowers are accepted, or memorial donations to Friendship United Methodist Church, PO BOX 1810, Seneca SC 29679.

Ms. Mary Michael Kennedy Silver

March 11, 1943 - November 29, 2025