Phil Heller, a portrait photographer who created treasured memories for generations of families, died Nov. 19 of congestive heart failure, his family said. He was 81.

Mr. Heller was a photographer for 38 years at Sirlin Photographers in Sacramento. He retired as general manager in 2008, a year before the family-owned company closed after 64 years in business.

His works – including photos of business executives, politicians, families, high school graduates and babies – are displayed in many Northern California homes and offices. He also helped create a process at Sirlin for copying and restoring photographs that was promoted in the industry by Kodak Co.

"He loved interacting with people," said his wife, Cathie. "He could sit at a table and talk with someone and get to know them, and all the while he was deciding how the lighting would flatter them and what camera angle to use. He was an artist."

Mr. Heller photographed prominent subjects, including Pete and Gayle Wilson, Robert and Doris Matsui, John and Patti Garamendi, Angelo Tsakopoulos, and Tom Raley and Joyce Raley Teel. He flew to Washington to shoot a Christmas card photo for the Matsuis, and Gayle Wilson traveled to Sacramento for portraits by him after her husband left the governor's office.

"She wasn't happy with anyone else's work after having Phil photograph her," Cathie Heller said. "He had a gift."

Phillip Samuel Heller was born in 1930 in Brooklyn, N.Y. He served four years in the Air Force and was a flight engineer instructor during the Korean War.

He graduated from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania and was working as an engineer at Bethlehem Steel in Reading, Pa., when he was assigned to do some photography for the company. He moved to Sacramento and joined Sirlin in 1970.

"He found out he loved photography more than engineering," his wife said.

Besides his wife, he is survived by three children from a previous marriage. He was predeceased by a son, Sidney.

Mr. Heller was a member of East Sacramento Rotary Club. He spoke and gave demonstrations on photography at camera club meetings and travel seminars. In 1982, he earned a photographic craftsman degree from the Professional Photographers of America, which showed his work at national conventions.

Besides writing poetry and songs, he enjoyed building and flying remote-controlled model airplanes. He also captured many of his family's important events on film.

"When his daughter was married, he photographed the wedding and was in it," his wife said. "He was the only photographer who was also the father of the bride."

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