Milestones, Jul. 18, 1977

Married. Jack Hearn Watson Jr., 38, assistant to President Carter for intergovernmental affairs; and Teena Stern Mohr, fortyish, a dancer; both for the second time; in Atlanta.

Died. Major General Edward A. Wilcox, 53, commander of the First Marine Division; of a heart attack; in Camp Pendleton, Calif. A 35-year veteran of the Marine Corps who participated in the postwar occupation of Japan, Wilcox later served in Korea and Viet Nam. He received numerous military decorations, including three Legion of Merit awards and the Bronze Star.

Died. Gersh Budker, 59, innovative Soviet researcher in high-energy physics; probably of heart disease; in the U.S.S.R. Budker, who joined the Soviet Atomic Energy Institute in 1946, did early work on graphite-moderated uranium reactors and contributed to the development of the Soviet hydrogen bomb. As director of the Siberian Institute of Nuclear Physics in Novosibirsk, he helped design a "colliding beam" accelerator—now used in high-energy physics research—in which a beam of electrons collides with a beam of positrons.

Died. Roy Crane, 75, comic-strip cartoonist and creator of Wash Tubbs, Captain Easy and Buz Sawyer; in Orlando, Fla. His swashbuckling grocery clerk, Washington Tubbs II, is credited with bringing adventure to the bland funny papers of the '20s when he fell in love with Tango the tiger tamer. Though other artists adopted Tubbs and Friend Captain Easy, Crane collaborated on Navy Pilot Buz until his death.

Died. Prince Mohamed Ali Ibrahim, 77, cousin of Egypt's late King Farouk; in Paris. A man about town in Los Angeles and New York City during the Prohibition Era, the prince associated with sportsmen and Hollywood luminaries. A yachtsman, he became a designer of sailing ships.

Died. Vladimir Nabokov, 78, Russian-born novelist (Lolita, Ada, Pale Fire) who was a master of style and elegant artifice; after a long illness; in Montreux, Switzerland (see BOOKS). -

Died. Nat Dorfman, 81, journalist, playwright (Errant Lady, Take My Tip) and press agent who represented more than 300 Broadway shows; of a heart attack; in Manhattan. Dorfman began working as a press agent in 1920, and later wrote a humorous column for the King Features Syndicate. Dorfman retired last January after 17 years with the New York City Opera.