Mary M. Madden, whose smile lit up the streets of Dorchester her whole life long and the halls of Boston College High School for some 40 years, died on Monday at age 76. A member of a noted Dorchester (St. Brendan’s) family, Ms. Madden stayed close to home during her working years, serving as a math teacher at BC High for 29 years and remaining there as a counseling presence for a decade after she retired.

Two men who sat in her class at the high school years ago remembered her with comments on the Murphy Funeral Home website this week:

“She was a patient caring teacher who helped many students to learn mathematics. Her contributions both inside and outside of the classroom helped to make BC High a special place to grow and learn. She will be missed,” wrote Robert O’Connell of Springfield.

“Many of us from the BCH class of ‘93 are sharing how sorry we are to hear this news on Facebook. “Wonderful,” “greatest,” and “favorite” is how she has been described there,” said Joseph Zaino of Watertown. “Her smiling face is one of the faces I see when I think of BC High.

Added Irene Duff of Dorchester, “Her smile was contagious and would spread good cheer wherever she was present.”

Mary was the daughter of the late Edward G. and Mary M. (MacIsaac) Madden and the loving sister of Virginia and her husband Hugh Mullen of Marshfield, Anne Fancelli and her late husband Dario, Robert Madden, Dorothy and her husband Robert Dunford, all of Dorchester, the late Edward and his wife Barbara Madden, and Jack Madden. She was the favorite aunt of Laura Ortiz, Kelly Collins, Christopher Mullen, Michael Mullen, Kevin Mullen, Julie Mullen, Beth Donovan, Dario Fancelli, Joseph Madden, Brian Dunford, Sarah Zaphiris, and Molly Murphy. She leaves by many grandnieces and nephews, cousins, and friends.

A celebration of Mary’s life will be held with a memorial visitation at BC High, on Friday, Aug. 12, at 9 a.m., followed by a funeral Mass at 10 a.m. Relatives and friends invited. Donations in Mary’s memory may be made to Boston College High School, 150 Morrissey Blvd., Dorchester.