Rochelle Picker, public-relations executive

Rochelle "Shelley" Sorkin Picker, 65, of Haverford, a former public-relations executive and accomplished artist, and golfer, died of complications from breast cancer Thursday, March 3, at home.

As president of the public-relations firm Ingram & Picker, and later as head of Picker & Associates, Mrs. Picker represented banks, law firms, and nonprofits.

In 1985, her agency launched the first Philadelphia International Bike Championship, then sponsored by CoreStates Bank.

During her 20-year career, Mrs. Picker was president of the Philadelphia Public Relations Association, a member of the International Association of Business Communicators, and on the public-relations committee for the Philadelphia Music Foundation. In 1999, she was inducted into the Philadelphia Public Relations Hall of Fame.

She wanted to make the world a better place , her husband, Ben Picker, said, and used her public-relations skills to help numerous causes.

A graduate of Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Mrs. Picker was president of the Philadelphia chapter of Artists Equity in the 1970s. At the time, painting products were not labeled and often artists worked in areas that were not ventilated, she told the Inquirer. She organized a daylong event to address safety issues and was involved in drafting an artist's bill of rights.

In 1987, she cofounded Philadelphia Pro Athletes Against Drunk Driving. The Eagles, Flyers, Phillies, and 76ers helped the effort to launch a TV ad campaign and provided players to speak at high schools in advance of proms and graduations.

After she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1994, she realized how much she missed painting. She took some master classes in watercolors at the Academy and began painting flowers and garden landscapes.

"My inspiration is my garden," she told The Inquirer. " . . . It captivates all of your senses. It's not just visual. Having the wind on me, the birds around me. I hope I show that in my work."

Mrs. Picker's watercolors were exhibited at several galleries, including Rosenfeld in Center City, and are in public and private collections.

A native of Wynnefield, Mrs. Picker graduated from Philadelphia High School for Girls, where she played field hockey, tennis, volleyball, and basketball.

She began playing golf at age 50 so she could share the sport with her husband and played on the women's team at White Manor Country Club in Malvern.

In May 2005, she hit her third hole-in-one in less than a year at the club. "People go their entire golfing careers without getting a hole in one," White Manor pro Marc Levine told The Inquirer at the time. "In the span of 10 months, Mrs. Picker has three. The odds have to be astronomical."

Four days a week, Mrs. Picker told the Inquirer, she painted in her studio. During the warmer weather, she was able to golf two or three days a week.

On occasion she combined the two pursuits. One of her paintings is of White Manor's No. 12 hole. The site of her third hole-in-one.

In addition to her husband of 36 years, Mrs. Picker is survived by a daughter, Eden Pontz; a son, Evan Pontz; stepchildren Deborah Vankin and David Picker; a brother; a sister; three grandchildren; and her former husband, Curt Pontz.

A funeral will be at 1 p.m. Friday, March 4, at Joseph Levine & Son Memorial Chapel, 7112 N. Broad St., Philadelphia. Burial will be in Roosevelt Memorial Park, Trevose.

Donations may be made to breastcancer.org, 7 East Lancaster Ave., 3rd floor, Ardmore, Pa. 19003 or to the lamfoundation.org, 4015 Executive Park Dr., Suite 320, Cincinnati, Oh. 45241.