Died. George Baker, 59, creator of the World War II cartoon anti-hero Sad Sack; of cancer; in Los Angeles. A draftsman at Walt Disney studios, Baker found his vocation only after joining the Army in 1941. His haplessly snafued Sad Sack became the image of the downtrodden G.I. doomed to a perpetual losing battle with his own top sergeants. Said Baker: "Many people lead a life of disappointment in one way or another. Nobody is completely happy or contented."

Died. Kenneth B. Keating, 74, ambassador to Israel; of heart disease; in Manhattan. A gregarious, backslapping lawyer in Buffalo, Republican Keating served six terms in the House before winning a Senate seat in 1958. "Politics," he joked, "is the ability to get money from the rich and votes from the poor while convincing both you are protecting each from the other." Crushed by Bobby Kennedy in his bid for reelection, Keating was named ambassador to India in 1969, and to Israel in 1973. In these posts he evolved a characteristically jocular definition of diplomacy: "Remembering a lady's birthday but forgetting her age."

Died. Moe Howard, 78, last survivor of the original Three Stooges slapstick comedy team; of lung cancer; in Hollywood. His black bangs cropped as if his barber had used a chamber pot, Moe cheerfully assaulted colleagues Larry, Curly and Shemp through more than 200 1930s farces, whacking them with mallets, tweaking noses, kicking shins, and deftly delivering thousands of the two-fingered eye punches that became his trademark, and endeared him in the 1950s to the first generation of television children.

Died. JOzsef Cardinal Mindszenty, 83, Primate of Hungary (1945-74) and symbol of the cold war's intractable conflicts; of a heart attack; in Vienna (see RELIGION).

Died. Avery Brundage, 87, president of the International Olympic Committee (1952-72); of a heart attack; in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. A 1912 U.S. Olympic track competitor and later self-made millionaire in construction, Brundage became the most powerful figure in international amateur sport as head of the I.O.C. Viewing the Olympics as a "20th century religion" free of "injustice of caste, race, family or wealth," Brundage autocratically, ruthlessly and sometimes pettily railed against "commercialism" in sport, upholding an increasingly elusive ideal of amateurism and several times axing popular athletes for minor infringements of it.

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