Michael Lahoff remembered for positive attitude after shooting, paralysis

Michael Lahoff's positive approach to life was serving him well in his roles as a Boy Scout leader, copy machine repairman, Sunday school teacher and father when a robbery in a Downtown Pittsburgh parking garage put his faith to the test.

Lahoff, who died Tuesday at age 66 more than 15 years after being shot twice in the robbery, is being remembered for how he handled adversity. He was paralyzed from the shoulders down and forced to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

Before the 2003 robbery, in which a bullet severed Lahoff's spine, he was known as the consummate Boy Scout leader during his many years with Troop 65 of Mt. Lebanon. He ran the Scouts' swimming advancement program for the Conestoga District and received the Order of Arrow special camping award.

"He did everything well and that's what you want in a Scout leader,” said former Scout master Bill Boyle, who was particularly impressed with Lahoff's knowledge of history, a passion he shared on scout trips to Gettysburg.

"He gave us such a fantastic tour of Gettysburg,” Boyle said. "He gave the kids all they could handle historywise. He knew all the generals. He knew all the people who participated in the battle. He told them about Chamberlain's folding gate method and Pickett's charge. He understood the tactics and explained them to the kids and I remember being so impressed by that.”

When he wasn't devoting his time to the Boy Scouts, Lahoff made his living as a copier repairman for Murrysville-based RTR Business Products.

"He would do anything. He would go above and beyond and do whatever it took to do his job and more,” owner Dick McCormick said. "He was a phenomenal technician.”

Lahoff was on a repair call in Downtown Pittsburgh on Jan. 3, 2003, when two men approached him on the seventh floor of the Smithfield-Liberty garage and demanded his wallet. Lahoff willingly handed his wallet over, but one of the men shot Lahoff twice in the collarbone and spine.

Marty Allen Armstrong of Springdale and Lamont Fulton of Crafton Heights went to prison for shooting and robbing Lahoff.

The pair robbed Lahoff of $15.

Armstrong used a stolen pistol to shoot Lahoff. He confessed to the robbery and shooting and was sentenced to up to 30 years in prison. Fulton received five to 10 years in prison and was released in 2011, court records show. Authorities on Thursday charged both men with criminal homicide.

"I just thought to myself, Mike would do anything for anybody, why would anybody do that to him?” McCormick said. "Mike was such a laid-back, mellow person.

"If these two kids who did this to Mike would have just asked him for the money, they would have gotten it,” Boyle said, choking back tears. "They could have asked him for anything without the threat of a gun and he would have done it for them. He would do anything for kids.”

Lahoff, 50 at the time of the shooting, seemingly had everything he wanted in life. But suddenly he found himself fighting to stay alive.

"When this happened, he was almost at the point of death at Mercy Hospital,” said J.T. O'Shea, former pastor of St. Winifred Church in Mt. Lebanon. "The Allegheny County Scouting Council set up a prayer service for him in the church, which holds 600 people, and the church was full. That tells you what they thought of Michael.”

Lahoff went on to live in a number of care facilities over the last 15 years and maintained contact with the Boy Scouts despite his physical limitations.

"As impressed as I was with Mike before the incident, I've been even more impressed by him since it happened,” said Boyle. "His character has just been amazing over the last 15 years, his constant attitude of making do with what he had and continuing to learn. He had a voice recognition machine that would help him with his computer work and for a number of years he was doing his own studies of British history. He was doing his own research into the Civil War. He did a number of projects like that and just continued to expand his own knowledge, his own character. He never stopped.”

Lahoff is survived by his brothers Alan (Cindy), David (Judy) and Daniel (Michelle Renee); wife Elizabeth; son Paul and daughter Alexandra (Eric) Cerny; and grandchildren Lilli and Eric Jr., as well as several nieces and nephews. Visitation will take place at Laughlin Cremation and Funeral Tributes, 222 Washington Road, Mt. Lebanon, from 3 to 7 p.m. Friday. A Mass will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Winifred Church, 550 Sleepy Hollow Road, Mt. Lebanon.

Paul Guggenheimer is a Tribune-Review contributing writer.