An armed robbery at a North Shore clothing store Nov. 8 left its owner dying on the floor, with gunshot wounds to the head, torso and ankle.

But another robbery at the store just a few months earlier had already left Michael Ross III with a deeply wounded spirit, said his father, Michael Ross Jr., who goes by his middle name, Fred.

On May 6, a masked teenager entered CM&M Fashions, at the intersection of Hodgkiss and Stayton streets in Marshall-Shadeland, and pulled out a revolver. Michael Ross tried to grab the gun. There was a brief struggle.

"Mr. Mike, let me go!" the robber shouted, according to court documents. "Mr. Mike, this is a mistake. Let me go!"

Mr. Ross recognized the voice as that of Kris Johnson, a 17-year-old who had broken into the store a year and a half before with some other teens. Mr. Ross had decided to become a mentor to the youth, bringing him to church and telling him to stay in school and give back to the community.

When Mr. Ross realized he was holding a boy he knew, he loosened his grip and the masked teen then ran away.

Police arrested Kris Johnson several weeks later. In June, a judge ordered him held for court on charges of robbery and threatening serious injury. He is now at Shuman Juvenile Detention Center.

"I don't know what was going through Kris' head," said his mother, Christine Johnson. "Mike would have given you the shirt off his back. There was nobody out there like him."

Fred Ross said his son "just broke down" after the May robbery. "He was so hurt."

Yesterday afternoon, 500 mourners crowded Allegheny Center Alliance to celebrate the 45-year-old's life and to share stories of the man who saw his clothing store as both a business and a way to reach out to troubled youths in the neighborhood where he grew up.

"Michael reminds me of Nehemiah," the Rev. Randy McIver told the crowd, "a man who wanted to rebuild what others had torn down. He rebuilt Jerusalem, and in many ways, [Mr. Ross] tried to rebuild the walls of his family, his community, and the people who came in contact with him."

During an interview at his North Side apartment last week, Fred Ross said his son would tell the youngsters who shopped at his shop for jeans and T-shirts: "You need to stay in school. You need to get an education." He turned away any who tried to enter the store during school hours unless they had an official note explaining their absence, he said.

At the store, Michael Ross displayed a white T-shirt shirt autographed by college-bound customers. He also displayed the pictures of young customers who had been murdered.

"You'd see the young kids come in, and he'd try to make an extra effort to take care of them," said Keith Hasek, a UPS driver who delivered packages to the store almost every day.

In the months leading up to the Nov. 4 presidential election, Mr. Ross encouraged teens who had reached the age of 18 to register to vote. (He also sold T-shirts and hats emblazoned with the name and face of President-elect Barack Obama.)

Fred Ross, 63, said he tried to give his son a strong work ethic at an early age, bringing him along to his various jobs, including construction sites. He encouraged Michael to finish Oliver High School, even though he himself had dropped out before graduating.

He also gave his son boxing lessons and taught him how to fight.

After school, Michael Ross worked as a janitor and a nurse's aide.

A trip to New York City, where he was amazed by the range and size of clothing stores, convinced him he could open his own business in Pittsburgh, according to his father.

"He said, 'I can do this.' "

Michael Ross teamed up with his brother-in-law and a friend. They named the store CM&M Fashions, for their names: Charlie, Mike and Mike.

But Fred Ross had doubts. His son put the clothing store in the heart of a residential area, away from most foot traffic. Michael's wife, Ernestine Ross said she had wanted him to put it in a neighborhood like Shadyside.

But he wanted to return to his childhood neighborhood on the North Side. He opened the shop in 2001.

With the help of word of mouth, the store was a success. Michael Ross would order almost any item that customers wanted. And he almost always gave discounts to customers who were a few dollars short.

"I said, 'a clothing store here?' It was just off the map," Fred Ross said. "But he made a believer out of me."

Not everything went smoothly. A second store, in Bellevue, closed after a year. And, in June 2003, Allegheny County narcotics detectives arrested Michael Ross at the North Side store after finding him with three baggies of powder cocaine.

They also found cocaine and two scales at his Penn Hills home. An informant had told police that Michael was selling the drugs for $1,100 an ounce, according to court records. He used his clothing store to "wash the money," the informant told police.

Michael Ross told his father that he needed the extra money to take care of his ailing mother, who was suffering from cancer.

Fred Ross was disappointed, but his son quickly showed contrition. He pleaded guilty to all drug charges facing him, and a judge permitted him to serve his 11-month sentence at the North Side's ARC House, an alternative housing facility, instead of the county jail.

He was allowed to go to his store, and his father helped run the business. He was released on parole in October 2005 and vowed to stay clean, his father said.

About a year later, a group of local teens broke into the store and stole merchandise.

Fred Ross said his son was able to identify the culprits by persuading a neighborhood youth to tell him what happened.

He called police. But he told them he would handle the situation himself. He organized a "hearing" in his store.

He then drew up a contract with the youths -- they would return or pay for the missing items; they would attend services with him at Petra International Ministries in Penn Hills for 10 Sundays; and they would perform community service in their neighborhood.

"He believed in second chances," said Melvin George, whose teenage son, Anthony, was involved in the burglary.

Mr. George, who lives several blocks from the store, said Anthony agreed to Mr. Ross' conditions right away. Now 18, he has a clean record and he takes auto mechanic classes, his father said.

He would still shop at CM&M Fashions, and "Mike and his father treated him like nothing ever happened," Mr. George said.

Kris Johnson, of Northview Heights, also agreed to go to church with Mr. Ross. He told his mother he appreciated the attention and thought it was helping him.

But Christine Johnson said her son soon started spending time with a crowd of troublemakers.

He was arrested in February on drug charges, according to court records. A warrant for his arrest was later issued when he removed an electronic monitoring device from his ankle.

On May 6, according to a criminal complaint, a boy named "Coop" entered CM&M Fashion and asked Michael Ross for a white T-shirt. As Mr. Ross headed to the back of the store, a second teen entered wearing a black stocking over his face.

Mr. Ross told the teen to remove the stocking. The teen then reached for a gun, and Mr. Ross grabbed him.

Coop then shouted the masked teen's name -- "Kris" -- and Mr. Ross realized he knew the robber.

When the teen fled, Mr. Ross called Kris' mother and told her, " 'I think your son tried to rob me,' " Christine Johnson recalled.

"That hurt him so bad," she said. "Kris could have gotten anything he wanted from him."

This time, Michael Ross planned to press charges. But his feelings softened as the months passed, Fred Ross said. He told police he still wanted Kris to have an opportunity to finish school.

Now, Michael Ross won't have any say over Kris' future. On Nov. 8, two more masked and armed robbers entered CM&M Fashions. And again, Michael Ross tried to resist.

Fred Ross, who was in a back room, heard his son shout: "Dad! It's on!"

He emerged to see the two robbers. He told his son, "Give them the money!"

But Michael Ross reached for his own handgun.

Fred Ross was able to run outside and call for help. He then heard several gunshots inside the store.

The robbers fled in an SUV. When Fred Ross entered the store again, his son was lying on the floor, barely breathing. He died at the scene.

Fred Ross, with a graying beard and a baseball cap, slumped in his chair and broke into tears as he recounted his son's final moments. Dark sunglasses covered his eyes.

"I was with him the day he was born and I was with him the day he died," Fred Ross said of his son. He has three other children.

Michael Ross had a son of his own and two stepdaughters.

Police have charged two men with his murder: 19-year-old Edward Dixon and 23-year-old Darnell Dixon, who was in serious but stable condition at UPMC Mercy last week after suffering gunshot wounds to the chest.

Darnell Dixon's nephew, Edward, had taken him to the hospital shortly after the robbery at CM&M Fashions, according to police. It is unclear if Michael Ross had shot him.

On Friday, a judge ordered Edward Dixon held for trial.

Christine Johnson visited Kris at Shuman last week and told him what happened.

"He couldn't believe it," she said. "He understands Mike was just trying to help him."

Fred Ross said the family was planning to close the store.

"It dies with him," he said.