Mary Rahikka, an artist who won awards for her watercolors and oils who had earlier been a statistician, died of pneumonia Thursday at St. Agnes Hospital. The former Ellicott City resident was 90.
Born Mary Alice Schlorek in New York City, she earned a bachelor's degree from Adelphi College in Garden City, N.Y., and a master's degree in mathematics from Columbia University. She took painting classes at the Art Students League in New York.
As a young woman, she worked at Standard and Poor's as a research assistant and was a statistician at the Ethyl Gasoline Corp. and at NBC in Rockefeller Center.
She moved to Columbia in 1988 and later lived in Ellicott City. Most recently she was a resident of the Charlestown Retirement Community.
An artist, Mrs. Rahikka worked in oils and watercolors from a studio in her home. She exhibited in shows in Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In 1992, she won the Best in Show and Best in Painting awards in the Maryland You Are Beautiful senior arts competition.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at Our Lady of the Angels Chapel, 711 Maiden Choice Lane.
Survivors include a son, Robert Rahikka of Columbia; a daughter, Joan Peppers of North Bethesda; a grandson; two step-grandsons; and two step-great-grandchildren. Her husband of 55 years, Reino E. "Ray" Rahikka, a Western Electric engineer, died in 2001. A son, Douglas Rahikka, died in 2004.