Kenneth L. Lay, Class of 1960, David H. Hickman High School was the CEO of Enron Corp until his resignation just last week.

        I got a call Sunday, January 20, 2002, from David Barboza of "The New York Times."  He said he would be doing a story on Kenny Lay and found my webpage (www.kewpie.net) and wondered if I knew Kenny.  David and I talked for a few minutes and the following is what I shared with him.  I told him Kenny was in the Class of 1960 and of course I know his sister Sharon, who was in my class, "The Class of 1963." Sharon and I hung out together through most of our Junior and Senior years at Hickman, but actually I didn't know Kenny personally and had not seen him for about 40 years.  Back in the late 50's and early 60's when someone was 3 grades ahead of you, they seemed miles and miles ahead of where you were in life.  I told David all I know of Kenny is that he lived on Amelia Street which was on the east side of town and his family used to trade at the gas station where I worked.  I remember meeting Mr. & Mrs. Lay and Kenny would come in from time to time to gas their car.  I remember starting to work in the fall of 1960 at Ward & Sublett Gulf, which had a wrecker service, so most of the wrecked cars were towed there.  I met Kenny sometime that fall when he stopped in to look at a car someone from high school had wrecked.  That next summer I would see Kenny when he came in the station in his paint spattered clothes, as he painted houses for a summer job, after he started at  the University of Missouri.  The next year  I got better acquainted with Sharon as the Lays moved from Amelia Street to Highland Drive on the west side of town where I lived and then Sharon became my neighbor.  The last time I remember seeing Kenny was when I was at their house on Highland Drive, with Sharon in 1962 or 1963.

        Being a Kewpie has always been a pretty cool thing and most Kewpies consider it an honor.  A lot of great people have attended Hickman High School.  To me, knowing Kenny has always been just like knowing any other Kewpie from Hickman High School.

        During the short time Kenny attending Hickman High School from 1958 into 1960, it would be accurate to say Kenny accomplished quite a bit for a new kid on the block.  He came from a small rural school to Hickman High School with an enrollment of 800 and 290 in his class.  Kenny's credits in "The Cresset," the school yearbook were;  band, Blue Triangle, Franklin Club, Modern Music Masters Vice President, Madrigal singers, Mu Alpha Theta, National Honor Society, Operetta, American History Award, Homecoming chairman and Verse Choir.  Mrs. Helen D. Williams, one of the most loved teachers in the history of Hickman High School, directed the Verse Choir.  Kenny's sister, Sharon had dreams of becoming the next Mrs. Williams at Hickman and did began teaching at Hickman after college, but it wasn't meant to be.  Sharon, Kenny and hundreds more of us that knew Mrs. Williams, knew, as she encouraged us to believe, that there were no limitations to what we could become if we put our mind to it.  The love, hope and inspiration that she gave to so many young Kewpies has come back to her and this great country through many great Kewpies .  Kenny Lay is one of those Kewpies, but what's most important, Kenny Lay will always be a Kewpie!

        As Rose O'Neill, creator of the Kewpie, said in her biography:  Cupid gets himself in trouble, but the Kewpies get themselves out, always searching out ways to make the world better and funnier.

by Charley Blackmore
Jan 29, 2002

January 23, 2002

Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay Resigns, Company Says

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

HOUSTON -- Kenneth L. Lay, the embattled chairman and chief executive of Enron Corp., resigned from the bankrupt energy company Wednesday night.

"This was a decision the board and I reached in cooperation with our creditors' committee," Lay said in a statement released Wednesday night by Enron. "I want to see Enron survive, and for that to happen we need someone at the helm who can focus 100 percent of his efforts on reorganizing the company and preserving value for our creditors and hard-working employees.

Lay said the many inquiries and investigations into Enron's activities take up too much of his time and make it more difficult for him to concentrate fully on what is most important to Enron's stakeholders.

Enron said its board, working with the creditor's committee on Enron's bankruptcy, is selecting a restructuring specialist to join Enron to help with its efforts to emerge from bankruptcy.

The specialist will serve as acting chief executive officer.

Just months ago, Enron was the country's seventh biggest company in revenue. But investors and traders alike evaporated amid revelations of questionable partnerships that helped keep billions of dollars in debt off its books and the company's acknowledgment that it overstated profits for four years.

The company filed for bankruptcy in December, leaving thousands of employees out of work and stripping much of their retirement savings after Enron temporarily barred them from selling company stock from their Enron-dominated 401(k) accounts.

Investors around the country were burned.

In inquiries with both financial and political overtones, 11 House and Senate committees are investigating Enron, while the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission pursue their own less-visible probes.

Lay is expected to testify before two congressional committees on Feb. 4.