Margaret C. Kenney, a retired language teacher at Needham High School, died in her home Monday. She was 81. Ms. Kenney was born in Needham and was a lifelong resident of the community. She was graduated from Wellesley College and earned a master's degree at Boston University. She taught English, Latin and Spanish at Needham High School for more than three decades before her retirement in 1971.

She leaves two sisters, Collette K. Caswell of Oakland, Maine, and Gertrude C. Quann of Norwood.

A funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. tomorrow in St. Joseph's Church in Needham. Burial will follow in St. Mary's Cemetery in Salem.

Globe Newspaper Company, Date: August 12, 1993 Page: 55 Section: OBITUARY