His mother had been first married to Emil's brother, Henry Pick, Sr., who was killed in a never-solved 1934 robbery-murder while transporting money to his general store in Tererro, New Mexico.
In 1936, the year of Sam's birth, the family bought the White Swan laundry in Santa Fe.
He served in the United States Army, and worked in the family business until he sold his interest to his older half-brother, Henry, in 1984.
[3][4][5] Pick was a member of the Santa Fe City Council from 1970 until 1976, when he was appointed mayor, succeeding Joe Valdes, and served for two years.
[7] In 1987, the United States Conference of Mayors selected Santa Fe as the nation's most-livable city with a population under 100,000, and cited Pick for his support of a percent for art ordinance to provide funding for public art as part of new construction projects.