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Ken Lay's Funeral in Aspen

By Jeralyn, Section Crime in the News
Posted on Mon Jul 10, 2006 at 10:16:58 AM EST
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100 of Ken Lay's friends and family filled the Aspen Chapel yesterday for his memorial service. I wrote a detailed post on it over at 5280.com, which I'm sure Lay haters won't like. It ends:

His last weeks could not have been pleasant, facing the prospect of decades in jail and the separation from his wife, children and life as he knew it. The Enron victims may be angry, as if they were cheated of seeing Lay receive a just punishment, but from my vantage point, he paid the ultimate price for his misdeeds. He certainly didn't get off easy.

R.I.P. Ken Lay. The jury said you did some bad things, but according to those who know you, you also did many good things, for your community and your family. According to your religion, you will now meet your maker and savior. I hope your critics and those who feel betrayed by you will be content to let them be your final judge. My sincere condolences to your family.

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    Ken Lay's Funeral in Aspen | 19 comments (19 topical)
    Re: Ken Lay's Funeral in Aspen (none / 0) (#1)
    by Dadler on Mon Jul 10, 2006 at 11:08:20 AM EST
    Sounds like a classy, sensitive, truthful, respectful obit to me, Jeralyn. Your usual top-notch, professional job.

    Re: Ken Lay's Funeral in Aspen (none / 0) (#2)
    by glanton on Mon Jul 10, 2006 at 11:15:13 AM EST
    Very well said, Jeralyn.

    Re: Ken Lay's Funeral in Aspen (none / 0) (#3)
    by jazzcattg1 on Mon Jul 10, 2006 at 11:22:50 AM EST
    The obit speaks of Memorial Services in Aspen and Houston -but what/when is/was the disposition of the body?

    Re: Ken Lay's Funeral in Aspen (none / 0) (#4)
    by desertswine on Mon Jul 10, 2006 at 12:14:37 PM EST
    According to Houston Chron. ~ ASPEN, COLO. - Family and friends will begin paying their last respects to former Enron Chairman Ken Lay at a private service here Sunday, followed by another gathering in Houston next Wednesday. Lay, who died early Wednesday in Colorado after a heart attack, wished to be cremated and have his ashes buried in Aspen, a source close to the family said.

    Re: Ken Lay's Funeral in Aspen (none / 0) (#5)
    by James DiBenedetto on Mon Jul 10, 2006 at 12:58:58 PM EST
    I suppose I'm not as big a person as Jeralyn or the commentors here, because I can't work up any sympathy for Ken Lay, or for his family. I don't believe that Lay, or his kin, lost a single moment of sleep over the careers, life savings, and in the case of the couple (that I've read of; I'd guess there are more) of Enron employees who committed suicide, actual lives that were ruined either thanks to Ken Lay's actions, or, to be generous, while he turned a blind eye and fiddled as his company burned? I don't. I believe that Ken Lay was very sorry indeed that he was called to account for it, and I believe that his family was very sorry about the legal bills they had to pay, the vacation homes they were forced to sell, etc., but I doubt very much that they spared any sympathy for the actual victims of Enron's collapse.

    Re: Ken Lay's Funeral in Aspen (none / 0) (#6)
    by squeaky on Mon Jul 10, 2006 at 01:13:15 PM EST
    James DiBenedetto-Yes it does take a big heart and advanced spiritual development to have any sympathy for such a cold hearted crook. Jeralyn is a really special human being and a gift for all of us to take in and admire.

    Re: Ken Lay's Funeral in Aspen (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 10, 2006 at 01:20:08 PM EST
    James DiBenedetto, I can understand your contempt for Ken Lay but I don't understand your contempt for his family. You are basically stating they are guilty by association.

    Re: Ken Lay's Funeral in Aspen (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 10, 2006 at 01:53:26 PM EST
    I find it hard to understand the argument that Lay received the ultimate punishment and that those who wish he'd served his time are big meanies. There are worse thigns than dying from a heart attack--like dying from a heart attack after having spent years and years in poverty and in fear for your spouse and other loved ones because the nest egg you'd counted on is gone. Lay spent a few weeks knowing he was doomed--hundreds or thousands of others will spend years and not spend them in Aspen.

    Re: Ken Lay's Funeral in Aspen (none / 0) (#9)
    by Dadler on Mon Jul 10, 2006 at 02:04:34 PM EST
    Venom doesn't kill the dead. Only the living. He's gone. Jeralyn did as measured and decent and GOOD a job as I can imagine an ardent lefty like her doing. Very Buddhist of her.

    Re: Ken Lay's Funeral in Aspen (none / 0) (#10)
    by Dadler on Mon Jul 10, 2006 at 02:10:15 PM EST
    Although R.I.P. is a bit afterlifey for me. "Fatten those worms" is more my style.

    Re: Ken Lay's Funeral in Aspen (none / 0) (#11)
    by jondee on Mon Jul 10, 2006 at 02:23:04 PM EST
    And, unfortunatly, what Lay did was all-too-human of him. How about those Reagan era bumperstickers? Lead, Follow, Or Get Out Of The Way; Whoever Dies With The Most Toys Wins ? Lay's only crime to far too many people was getting caught. Sad to say.

    Re: Ken Lay's Funeral in Aspen (none / 0) (#12)
    by James DiBenedetto on Mon Jul 10, 2006 at 03:25:09 PM EST
    Macromaniac, You have a point, and it isn't fair to tar his family with the same brush that Ken Lay is condemned with. But: his family (certainly his wife and children) benefitted from the fruits of his crimes (and continue to do so to this day; after everything, I believe that he had several million dollars left, and the Colorado home among whatever other property he had), and while they may not have known at the time that he was doing things that were illegal, or that his crimes would impoverish thousands of his employees, they certainly know it now, and I'm not aware of any efforts on the part of his survivors to return the fruits of Ken Lay's crimes to his victims (if there have been such efforts, I'll gladly stand corrected). I'll also admit to feeling that, if Ken Lay couldn't be bothered to care about the families of his employees when they were bankrupted thanks to him, I don't see why his family should be spared the consequences of his actions. Squeaky - I'll agree with you. For me, personally, I can't forgive until the guilty party sincerely repents and asks for forgiveness. I don't believe that Ken Lay ever did that.

    Re: Ken Lay's Funeral in Aspen (none / 0) (#13)
    by squeaky on Mon Jul 10, 2006 at 03:40:52 PM EST
    James DiBenedetto-Yes, I struggle with the same thing. Along the lines that the best revenge is living well, I think forgiveness is always the better option. Hard to do, but ultimately affords one a lighter heart with no downside.

    Re: Ken Lay's Funeral in Aspen (none / 0) (#14)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Mon Jul 10, 2006 at 04:04:20 PM EST
    Jondee, this might be interesting to you... "Lead, follow, or get out of the way." Thomas Paine "Whoever dies with the most toys wins." Mason Capwell...a character on a mid 80's soap opera.

    Re: Ken Lay's Funeral in Aspen (none / 0) (#15)
    by Che's Lounge on Mon Jul 10, 2006 at 06:13:41 PM EST
    Well JM, you spoke eloquently of the passing and paid the due respect to the family. I hope they know, we didn't want him dead. We just wanted some f**king justice.

    Re: Ken Lay's Funeral in Aspen (none / 0) (#16)
    by Che's Lounge on Mon Jul 10, 2006 at 06:21:13 PM EST
    SUO, Nice one. Great link.

    Re: Ken Lay's Funeral in Aspen (none / 0) (#17)
    by azbballfan on Mon Jul 10, 2006 at 09:38:15 PM EST
    macromaniac
    James DiBenedetto, I can understand your contempt for Ken Lay but I don't understand your contempt for his family. You are basically stating they are guilty by association.
    I understand your reasoning. However being someone who has known a few Ken Lay equivalents and their families very closely, I have seen the family to most often be the root cause of tyranny. I cannot feel sorry for a family which is $43 million richer because Ken died before going to prison. I can, however, feel pity for their souls.

    Re: Ken Lay's Funeral in Aspen (none / 0) (#18)
    by kdog on Tue Jul 11, 2006 at 06:10:25 AM EST
    If I'm in possesion of a stolen television...I'm guilty. The Lays are guilty in that sense.

    Re: Ken Lay's Funeral in Aspen (none / 0) (#19)
    by SeeEmDee on Tue Jul 11, 2006 at 06:23:17 AM EST
    All I can say on the matter is that "Kenny Boy" Lay should have been in prison for years after what he had done and wasn't, thanks to the connivance of his upper-class peers. He didn't pay a single 'price' for what he did to so many, and was free to enjoy what he had stolen for years, while his victims have been made destitute. He still died with a lot of 'toys', so I suppose he did 'win', after all. He sure as Hell didn't feel the full force of the law on his neck. That kind never does...

    Ken Lay's Funeral in Aspen | 19 comments (19 topical)