Helen Bellamy, herself a member of a tall family, struck up a conversation with a young man of great height at a mixer in 1957. They compared hometowns, and as it turned out, her father worked at a job his hometown of New Bern, N.C. A lively conversation was sparked.
And on this day when Helen met her future husband of 53 years for the first time, she was struck less by Walt Bellamy's 6-foot-11 frame and more by the way in which his composed manner affected other people.
"They just didn't carry themselves the way that I felt that people should carry themselves," Helen said.