DOVER, N.H. — Marilynn K. Rumley, 81, “Sissy” passed away Friday, Aug. 24, after a brief illness.

She was born at home in Mexico, to Thelma (Marble) and Robert Rumley, April 4, 1931. Sissy attended schools in Rumford and Mexico. She later moved to Rochester, N.H., living with her aunt and uncle, John and Dorothy Poulis.

Marilynn graduated with high honors from Spaulding High School, Rochester, N.H., in 1948, and the University of New Hampshire in 1952. After graduation she moved to Boston and was hired early on in her career by Harvard Medical School.

She worked for many years as a research scientist for the Departments of Biological Chemistry and Neurology, Harvard Medical School, in Boston. Working alongside Dr. E.P. Kennedy and Dr. L. Lahut Uzman, she published numerous scientific articles and also earned awards for their groundbreaking research in cellular and molecular biology.

In later years, Marilynn was especially fond of her work in the Post Doctoral Department, guiding many scholars and physicians from all over the world who had come to further their research. She retired from Harvard Medical School in the late 1990s.

Sissy dearly loved her family, her mother, Thelma Berry; sisters, Lois (Berry) Hathaway of Leeds, Susan (Berry) Novros of Encino, Calif., Arlene (Berry) Nason of Hartford, Kathleen Berry of Mechanic Falls and Gretchen Berry of Millinocket; brother; cousins; and her aunts and uncles. Marilynn had many lifelong friends, especially Pat Lambert, whom she met her freshman year at UNH, and Phyllis Elfman, whom she met at Harvard Medical School. She enjoyed hiking, camping and traveling both at home and abroad, touring Great Britain, Europe as often as she could.

Miss Rumley was predeceased by her grandparents, Mary (Bonney) and Charles Marble; her mother, Thelma (Rumley) Berry; aunts and uncles, John and Dorothy Poulis, William and Grace Marble, Byron and Bertha Marble and Charles and Mildred Marble; and her brother, Charles “Skip” Berry.

We especially thank everyone at Hyder Family Hospice in Dover for their tender, loving care of Sissy in her last days.