Wearing his trademark Kelly-green corduroy pants with a printer's rule jutting from a rear hip pocket, horn-rimmed glasses jammed high above his forehead, and puffing on a maduro cigar, when smoking was allowed in the building, Mr. Pickering cut quite a figure in the composing room, where he generously dispensed both his amiability and an endless series of running one-liners and wisecracks.
"If you knew Bobby Pickering, you couldn't help but like him. He always had a smile on his face," said Bill Tanton, retired Evening Sun sports editor. "He was a plus in any group."
Larry Harris, a retired assistant Evening Sun sports editor, was a longtime colleague and friend.
"Because Bobby had that early Teletype training, he could play a typewriter or computer keyboard like Horowitz. He'd compile standings and statistics, and was capable of an incredible amount of work," Mr. Harris said.
After The Evening Sun ended publication in 1995, Mr. Pickering continued working as a makeup editor for The Sun until retiring in 2001.
He worked in the Baltimore Country registrar of wills office for about five years, family members said.
Over the years, Mr. Pickering enjoyed renovating old homes.
"He was a championship guy and could fix anything. He could have fixed the Hubble telescope if they let him," Mr. Harris said. "He could tune the motor in your car, put on a new roof for you or hang a door. He was just a treasure."
A decade ago, Mr. Pickering was diagnosed with the disease that ended his life.
"They gave him five years, and he lived 10," Mr. Ward said. "He was a fighter and a real inspiration."
Mr. Harris recalled Mr. Pickering's will to live.
"He may have been diminutive in stature, but what a heart this man had. I think he really showed them a few things at the University of Maryland Medical Center," he said.
Mr. Pickering, a former Riderwood and Mays Chapel resident, who had lived in Dulaney Towers in Towson since 2000, enjoyed golfing and spending time at a second home in Ocean Pines.
He was a longtime active member and former president of the Towson Elks Lodge.
Mr. Pickering attended St. Jude Shrine in downtown Baltimore, where plans for a memorial Mass were incomplete yesterday.
Surviving are his wife of 44 years, the former Judith Gettman; a son, Robert Michael Pickering Jr. of Towson; a daughter, Lisa Pickering Marchetti of Hampden; a sister, Linda Pickering Elliott of Grasonville; and two grandsons.
fred.rasmussen@baltsun.com
