HOUSTON -- Former Enron Corp. chairman and founder Ken Lay died of a massive heart attack early Wednesday in Aspen, Colo.

• Web Site: Lay's Personal Web Site

He was 64.

Lay was admitted to the Aspen Valley Hospital with a massive coronary, Houston TV station KPRC reported.

He died shortly after 3 a.m. with his wife, Linda, by his side, family members said.

The Lays were staying in Aspen at their vacation home. The family did not release any other details.

Doctors said his heart simply "gave out" and the death was unexpected.

Lay attended First Methodist Church in downtown Houston.

The pastor said he received a phone call Tuesday night alerting him that Lay suffered a heart attack. He spoke with Lay last week.

"He was at peace. He had great perspective on the situation. He felt like God could use him wherever that was, whether in jail, out of jail. Ken felt like he was ready to face the future," Senior Pastor Stephen Wende said.

Wende said that the collapse of Enron, the ensuing trial and the guilty verdict did not dim his vision, his enthusiasm or his faith.

"Ken Lay and his family were and are friends and neighbors of ours. Ken's long night is over. He is in eternity as a man of faith, strong faith. The thoughts and prayers of Elyse and I go out to his family," former Houston Mayor Bob Lanier said.

Although Lay lived in Houston, he and his family frequently vacationed in Colorado.

Lay was convicted May 25 along with former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling of defrauding investors and employees by repeatedly lying about Enron's financial strength in the months before the company plummeted into bankruptcy protection in December 2001.

Lay was also convicted in a separate non-jury trial of bank fraud and making false statements to banks, charges related to his personal finances.

He was due to be sentenced in October. He faced a punishment that could have kept him in jail the rest of his life.

Prosecutors in Lay's trial declined comment Wednesday, both on his unexpected death and what may become of the government's effort to seek a $43.5 million judgment from Lay that they say he pocketed as part of the conspiracy.

Lay took Enron from a conservative natural gas pipeline company to an energy and trading giant. It was seventh on the Fortune 500 in 2000 and claimed more than $100 billion in annual revenue.

President George W. Bush knew him as "Kenny Boy."

But the company imploded and collapsed into bankruptcy in 2001 after it became clear Enron's finances were built on fraudulent partnerships and schemes.

Enron's collapse wiped out more than $60 billion in market value, about $2 billion in pension plans and thousands of jobs.

Both Lay and Skilling maintained there had been no wrongdoing.

Lay had described himself as a desperate captain trying to save a sinking ship in the months before the company went bankrupt.

Lay grew up in Missouri, where he spent his childhood helping his family make ends meet. After college, he worked for an Exxon-Mobil predecessor, before joining the Navy. He was an undersecretary at the Department of the Interior before returning to business.

He became an executive at Florida Gas, then Transco Energy in Houston, and later became CEO of Houston Natural Gas. In 1985, HNG merged with InterNorth in Omaha, Neb. to form Enron, and Lay became chairman and CEO of the combined company the next year.

Workers React To Lay's Death

Some former Enron employees were shocked by Lay's sudden death.

Some were disappointed that he never served time in prison.

"I don't think justice was served. Dying is easy. Serving time is hard," Lois Black said.

Black was a legal secretary at Enron. Now, she caters children's birthday parties to make ends meet after losing $150,000 in retirement savings.

"I'm sorry that he didn't have to serve time. I'm sorry for his family that he died. It's a huge loss to lose someone in your family like that. But, I think he got off easy," Black said.

"I was very shocked -- saddened. I feel for his family. I know that had to be a tragic loss for them. He's a father. He's a husband. I know how I would feel," Tracy Michel said.

"He's being judged by someone far better that I am. Just a guilty verdict was enough to make everybody realize that corporate executives are going to be held accountable. That was it. Whether he was sentenced to 20 years, 2 years, 5 years, it really didn't make any difference at that point," Penny Cretsinger said.

The former employees' attorneys said Lay's estate would still be liable for civil lawsuits. The amount is uncertain.

One former Enron worker said "justice is served at some point or another," and that Kenneth Lay's death just means it's sooner this time.

Tammie Huthmacher was a contract specialist before she was laid off in the energy company's collapse.

She said she feels bad for Lay's family but she said Lay's death "spares a lot of people grief in the future."

Lay's death means "we don't have to pay for him sitting in jail and watching cable TV and having luxuries," she said.