Retired Gateway Elementary School principal Bruce Short can still picture Michael O'Toole, then principal of Gateway High School, sitting at his desk in his office with a cigar in his mouth.

"He always told you the way it was," Mr. Short said. "He was firm but fair."

Mr. O'Toole, who died at the age of 89 at Braddock Hospital on Sunday, was a no-nonsense principal.

His son, Mark, of Grand Rapids, Mich., who attended Gateway when his dad was principal, said, "A lot of people tried to get away with things. My father was always two steps ahead of them. Both with teachers and students, he had very high expectations and standards. They never got lowered. He didn't believe in lowering the bar to accommodate people."

Mr. O'Toole began his education career as a math teacher and coach in the Braddock School District. He went on to become Braddock High School principal and superintendent of Braddock, which later became part of the Woodland Hills School District.

In 1970, he was recruited to become principal of Gateway High School, which had problems requiring a disciplinarian, said his son, Paul, of Monroeville.

Five years later, he became assistant superintendent, a post he held until his retirement in the 1980s.

Mr. O'Toole was born in Homestead and was raised in Braddock during the Great Depression. Mr. O'Toole's mother died when he was 3 years old, and the family was dispersed when his jobless father sent the children to boarding homes. Mr. O'Toole and his sister, Rita, ended up in a boarding home where they worked as they grew up and where a 15-year-old girl, the late Helen McMulldren raised them.

After graduating from Braddock High School, Mr. O'Toole worked at a mill for a year and decided it wasn't for him. Ms. McMulldren encouraged him to go to college at Appalachian State University in North Carolina, where he played football.

He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II as lieutenant and pilot with the "Black Cat Squadron."

Mr. O'Toole was married for 46 years to Betty, who died about 11 years ago. In addition to sons Mark and Paul, he is survived by two other sons, Michael of San Jose, Calif., and James of Dallas; seven grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Friends will be received from 1 to 4 and 6 to 9 p.m. today at the Jobe Funeral Home & Cremation Services Inc., Monroeville.

Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. tomorrow at North American Martyrs Catholic Church in Monroeville. Burial with full military honors will be at Good Shepherd Cemetery.