Died. Rafael Ignacio Arias Blanco, 53, plump, popular Roman Catholic Archbishop of Caracas, whose pastoral letter (1957), indicting Dictator Perez Jimenez for failing to relieve Venezuela's impoverished masses, triggered the opposition groups into action that toppled the dictator; in an auto accident; near Barcelona, Venezuela.

Died. Vincent Richards, 56, tennis boy wonder who perfected a rifle-shot volley, at 15 teamed up with Bill Tilden to win the national doubles championship, won the Olympic singles the only year (1924) competition was held, at 23 startled fans by turning pro and triggering the professional-tennis movement in the U.S.; of a heart attack; in Manhattan.

Died. Walter F. Munford, 59, president of U.S. Steel Corp., who worked (1919) at nights as a die reamer for a subsidiary of U.S. Steel in Worcester, rose to be president of American Steel and Wire Division (1953), executive vice president (1958); of a stroke following a knife wound, said to be accidental, at his summer cottage on Cape Cod; in Hyannis, Mass.

Died. Sumner H. Slichter, 67, white-thatched, aggressively independent economist, Lament Professor (1940-59) at Harvard, who tested his academic theories by constant contact with people active in business, labor and government, filled nine books and countless articles with a hard-headed faith in the buoyancy of the U.S. economy, condoned inflation as the price of increased productivity, and even (1959) urged a $3 billion annual federal deficit to sustain demand; of a kidney ailment; in Boston. A startlingly accurate economic prophet, Slichter usually championed the minority view. When his fellow economists took a leaf from Marx and gloomily predicted the stagnation of a mature economy in the '30s, Slichter forecast the growth of the '40s. When his colleagues prepared for a depression to follow World War II, Slichter predicted the boom. Trained as a labor economist, Slichter never let his bias warp his judgment, ruffled labor leaders by labeling the postwar economy "laboristic," recommending stronger laws against picket line abuses.

Died. Donald Marr Nelson, 70, longtime (1912-42) Sears, Roebuck executive who was appointed (1942) by F.D.R. to be chairman of the War Production Board, captained the gigantic wartime industrial effort, went abroad to oversee production in England, China and Russia, resigned (1944) in a huff over what he felt was interference by the military, whom he later accused (Arsenal of Democracy) of trying to control the U.S. economy, became president (1945-47) of the Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers; of a cerebral hemorrhage; in Los Angeles.

Died. Captain Bruce Bairnsfather, 71, British World War I cartoonist who spent his spare time in the muddy trenches in France drawing "Old Bill," the sad-eyed, shaggy-headed, walrus-mustached embodiment of the dogged British Tommy, earned a fortune as Old Bill endeared himself to readers around the world; in Norton, England.

Died. Sir Matthew Smith, 79, shy, frail British artist who spent most of 30 years in Paris absorbing the work of the Fauvists, waited until he was 46 for his first one-man show, poured onto canvas powerful landscapes and sensuous nudes in rich, lush splotches of color; in London.

Died. Dr. Ross Granville Harrison, 89, spare, retiring biologist who pioneered (1907) in growing cells independent of the organism from which they were taken, stimulated a pupil, Dr. John Enders, to use the same tissue-culture method to grow a polio virus (1949) that led to the Salk vaccine, taught biology and zoology (1907-38) at Yale; in New Haven, Conn.

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