Wal-Mart founder's widow dies

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Helen Robson Walton, the widow of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, was the prototypical "strong woman behind a strong man."

She helped start the company that became the world's largest retailer with a loan from her father and she pushed for profit sharing for its employees, people who knew her said.

A memorial service was scheduled Monday for the 87-year-old matriarch, one of the 30 wealthiest people in the world. She died Thursday at her home of natural causes, according to a news release from Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

"She was the best example of the strong woman behind a strong man," said Michael Bergdahl, a Sam Walton protege and former executive in charge of Wal-Mart's People Division, as the retailer calls human resources.

Helen Walton helped her husband get a $20,000 loan from her father to get started in the retail business in Arkansas after banks turned down the idea of a discount retailer for rural communities, Bergdahl said.