Shearn Moody, Jr.

Shearn Moody Jr. (May 23, 1933 – June 25, 1996) was an American financier, entrepreneur, and philanthropist from Galveston, Texas. He was heir to a financial empire and originator of the Moody Gardens resort complex. Moody was the grandson of insurance and financial tycoon William Lewis Moody Jr. His father died in 1936, while he was an infant. Moody was well known for eccentric behavior, such as building a slide from his bedroom window to a swimming pool, where he kept pet penguins, and wearing house slippers wherever he went. Moody had long served on the board of the charitable foundation, helping to direct millions of dollars in grants to just causes. Moody singing a risque song he had commissioned about the legal profession, a federal appellate court overturned the convictions.

In 1987, Moody was featured on the cover of Texas Monthly magazine and proclaimed "the sleaziest man in Texas" and in November 1989, after an investigation spanning more than a decade, he was convicted of bankruptcy fraud in connection with the now defunct Empire Life Insurance Company. Although sentenced to five years in federal prison, Moody served little time and was released on parole in May 1991.

Legacy In his later years, Moody devoted much of his time to his work on the board of directors of Moody Gardens. He was quoted in the Houston Chronicle as saying, "I originally conceived the project of the gardens because we wanted to use the gardens to give this community another source of income."