DEATHS IN THE NEWS

Stuart Symington, a former U.S. senator from Missouri known asa champion of military air power in his more than 30 years of publicservice, died of heart failure at his home. He was 87. The Democratserved in the Senate from 1953 until his retirement in 1977 and heldvarious posts in the Truman administration. He was the nation'sfirst Air Force secretary in 1947-50 and assistant secretary of warfor air in 1946-47. He was a favorite-son candidate for theDemocratic presidential nomination in 1956 and 1960, losing to AdlaiStevenson and John F. Kennedy, respectively.

Loudon Wainwright, a journalist who wrote Life magazine's "TheView From Here" column and chronicled the magazine's history in a1986 book, died in New York of cancer at age 63. He joined Life in1949 as an office boy. In the 1950s, he distinguished himself as acorrespondent and bureau chief. Mr. Wainwright started "The ViewFrom Here," the magazine's first personal column, in 1964. In 1969,he was named Life's assistant managing editor and held that positionuntil the weekly ceased publication at the end of 1972.

The Rev. John Mix, 88, former superior general of theCongregation of the Resurrection, died Wednesday in the NazarethvilleNursing Home, Des Plaines. Father Mix, who was born in Chicago andattended St. Hyacinth Elementary School and St. Stanislaus CollegeAcademy, served as the order's superior general in Rome from 1947 to1959. He was ordained on June 29, 1927, and became associate pastorat St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Church in Chicago.

Gen. Robert Urquhart, the British commander at the heroic, butill-fated, Battle of Arnhem that sought to bring an early end toWorld War II, died Tuesday at his home at Port of Menteith, Scotland.He was 87. As commander of the First Airborne Division, Gen.Urquhart was at the forefront of the battle in September, 1944, tocapture a bridge over the Rhine at Arnhem, the Netherlands. He hadmany narrow escapes, and was portrayed by Sean Connery in the 1977movie "A Bridge Too Far," which was based on the battle. The battlewas the climax of a U.S.-British operation aimed at ending the war inEurope before the end of 1944, thereby avoiding the Allies' long,conventional offensive that eventually ended the war in 1945. Afterthe war, he was appointed commander of British forces inBritish-ruled Malaya, which later became part of Malaysia. From 1952until his retirement in 1955, he was commander of British troops inAustria.

Anne Seymour, an actress heard almost nightly during radio'sGolden Age of the 1930s and 1940s, died Dec. 8 of respiratorycomplications. She was 79. Miss Seymour's stage credits include"Sunrise at Campobello," "Hay Fever," "Saturday's Children," "TheIntimate Strangers," "The Sorcerer," "Troilus and Cressida" and "TimeOut for Ginger." On radio, she was in "Portia Faces Life," "The FordTheatre," "Grand Hotel," "Against the Storm," "The MagnificentMontague" "Armstrong Theater" and others. Her first film was "Allthe King's Men" in 1949. Other movie credits include "All the FineYoung Cannibals," "Misty" and "How to Succeed in Business WithoutReally Trying." On television, Miss Seymour appeared in "StudioOne," "Robert Montgomery Presents," "Kraft Television Theater," "TheJackie Gleason Show," "Naked City," "Perry Mason" and recently"Cagney and Lacey."

Anthony Provenzano, the man Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa was enroute to meet when he vanished, died of a heart attack Monday. Hewas 71 and had been serving a 20-year prison term for racketeering.Mr. Provenzano died at a hospital near the federal prison at Lompoc,Calif. In his heyday in the early 1960s, he ruled Teamsters Local 560in Union City, N.J., then the nation's third-largest local. In July,1975, Hoffa disappeared while on his way to a Detroit meeting withProvenzano, an associate of the Genovese crime family. Hoffa ispresumed dead, but his body never was found. According to an FBImemo, Hoffa and Provenzano had feuded when both were in federalprison. The FBI speculated that Hoffa had hoped to make peace withProvenzano and forge an alliance that would aid his drive to regainpower.

Fred Berland, 56, president of the former P. J. Berland Paint &Wallpaper City chain, died Tuesday in Evanston Hospital. Mr.Berland, who lived in Northbrook, is credited with building thebusiness from a one-store operation in Chicago to 20 stores in theChicago and Milwaukee areas. Mr. Berland was a Korean War veteran. He was active in commercial real estate and helped form a purchasingsyndicate for independently owned paint and wallcovering stores.

Perry Lieber, a publicity agent and confidant of the billionaireHoward Hughes, died Monday at the age of 83. Mr. Lieber joined thepublicity department at RKO Studios in 1930, working there for 25years and becoming the studio's publicity director.