Houston's political and business leaders, including former president George HW Bush, turned out for Kenneth Lay's memorial service yesterday, less than a week after the Enron founder's sudden death.

Friends and family lauded the man who built Enron into an energy giant before its collapse in the biggest corporate scandal of its time as a devout Christian and family leader.

Lay's stepson David Herrold told the nearly full First United Methodist Church that Lay was wrongly convicted.

Lay, who was 64, died while holidaying in Colorado on July 5th, just six weeks after a jury convicted him and former Enron chief executive Jeffrey Skilling of conspiracy and fraud in the 2001 collapse of the energy company.

Lay was found guilty of 10 counts of conspiracy, fraud and misusing personal bank loans on May 25th and was facing decades in prison at his sentencing, scheduled for October 23rd.

Lay was a longtime friend of the Bushes, contributing to their political campaigns and nicknamed "Kenny boy" by US president George W Bush.

Among the other luminaries at the service were former secretary of state James Baker and former secretary of commerce Robert Mosbacher snr.

Lay was cremated in Colorado, where a memorial service was held for him on Sunday. Skilling attended that service but was not seen at the Houston memorial.

The Reverend Dr Bill Lawson compared Lay to civil rights leader Martin Luther King jnr and Jesus Christ and said that his name would eventually be cleared. - (Reuters)