ENGAGED. Stuart Symington, 76, first Secretary of the Air Force (1947-50) and telegenically handsome, four-term Democratic Senator from Missouri who, he said, graduated from politician to statesman when he retired in 1976; and Ann (Nancy) Hemingway Watson, 59, widow of Arthur K. Watson, an IBM executive and a son of its founding father. The wedding, in June, will be the second for each.

MARRIED. Aretha Franklin, 36, long-reigning queen of soul, rhythm 'n' blues, gospel and nearly every other popular music territory; and Glynn Turman, 31, handsome actor of stage (A Raisin in the Sun), film (Cooley High) and television (Peyton Place); in a ceremony performed by the bride's father, the Rev. Clarence Franklin, in his Baptist church, with music by the Four Tops; she for the second time, he for the third.

MARRIED. Leonard Woodcock, 67, chief of the U.S. liaison mission to the People's Republic of China and former president of the United Automobile Workers; and Sharon Tuohy, 35, a State Department nurse on Woodcock's staff; in Peking; he for the second time, she for the first.

DIED. George Cory, 57, moody songwriter who penned the music for an international hit, I Left My Heart in San Francisco; of a drug overdose; in San Francisco. After writing more than 200 songs with indifferent success, Cory was approached in 1961 by Singer Tony Bennett, who needed a number to highlight a San Francisco engagement and salvage a fading career. Cory and his lyricist partner Douglass Cross pulled a dusty, eight-year-old tune from their trunk and the trio made a fortune.

DIED. Long John Nebel, 66, dean of all-night radio talk-show hosts whose early specialty was interviewing hypnotists, UFO freaks and sundry other pitchmen of the occult; of cancer; in Manhattan. An eighth-grade dropout with a quicksilver tongue, Long John (6 ft. 5 in.) worked as carnival huckster, mind reader and auctioneer before going on Manhattan's WOR in 1956. Indefatigable, he came to command 42 hours of air time a week on WNBC, more than any other host in radio history.

DIED. Ford Christopher Frick, 83, low-keyed baseball commissioner (1951-65) and president of the National League (1934-51); in Bronxville, N.Y. As commissioner, Frick remained on the sidelines, viewing himself primarily as an administrator in the employ of team owners. As National League president, however, he acted quickly and effectively in 1947 after Jackie Robinson broke the color line and some of the St. Louis Cardinals threatened to strike rather than play against him. Firmly telling the Cardinals, "You cannot do this because this is America," Frick quashed the threat.

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