Aspen – The family and friends of Ken Lay held a memorial service Sunday for the Enron founder, who will be best remembered for the spectacular fall of the company and his subsequent conviction for fraud.
An hour-long service in a small stone chapel “brought back the philanthropic man that he was,” said Fred Malek, a Lay friend and chairman of Thayer Capital Partners in Washington.
Former Enron chief executive Jeff Skilling, his wife, Rebecca, and lawyer Daniel Petrocelli attended, as did William Lawson, a prominent African-American Baptist minister from Houston who testified as a character witness at Lay’s trial.
Attendance at the memorial and a reception that followed at Aspen Chapel was restricted to family and friends, and the Lay family made no statement.
Security guards shielded attendees by holding umbrellas that blocked the view of reporters and photographers who stood on private property across the road during a day of rain and overcast skies.
Man of many colors
Lay died awaiting sentencing and a likely term of decades in prison, but he also was a husband, dad and philanthropist.
When Lay died last week, he was awaiting sentencing on six counts of fraud and conspiracy for lying to investors and employees about Enron’s financial health before the company collapsed into bankruptcy in 2001.
He faced decades in prison.
Thousands of Enron employees were left jobless, and many who had counted on the once-high-flying energy giant’s stock were devastated by the company’s failure. Investors lost billions, and claims against the company topped $70 billion.
Energy traders at the company also rigged California’s power market, causing huge spikes in electric bills paid by consumers.
Lay, 64, died of heart disease six weeks after he and Skilling, 52, were convicted.
Lay and his wife, Linda, would have marked their 24th wedding anniversary today, according to the Houston Chronicle.
“I know a lot of people say he is one of the biggest criminals on the planet, but he is still a father, he is still a grandfather,” said Bonnie Behrend, former CNBC anchor, who lives in Aspen. “He leaves a wife behind,” she added.
Behrend took a cab to the chapel, hoping to offer her condolences to the family, but was turned away by security guards. She didn’t know Lay, she said.
She came to the memorial after spending the morning at another church.
“I just spent a couple of hours in church, and I was having an emotional day myself,” she said. “I thought this poor guy took a beating.”
The small chapel seats about 300 people, and more than 100 vehicles, most sport utility vehicles, were parked in the dirt lot outside.
Attendees could be seen through a screen of trees at the reception in a courtyard outside following the service.
A car from the swank Hotel Jerome delivered at least one attendee. A second memorial service is scheduled Wednesday in Houston.
Lay and Skilling were to be sentenced Oct. 23. Skilling is still expected to be sentenced on that day. Both men maintained their innocence throughout the trial.
Staff writer Tom McGhee can be reached at 303-820-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com.
