'Fun-loving' Eddie O'Toole; downtown pub was namesake
By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer
He drank his Budweiser from the can, told humorous stories punctuated by what one friend described as "a brutal cackle," loved Indy-style auto racing and has a downtown pub named for him.
Edward J. "Eddie" O'Toole, a beloved Irish rascal who celebrated his 80th birthday on Feb. 27, died Thursday at his Makiki home.
O'TOOLE
"When Pan Am had those piano bars on the 747s, we'd take the red-eye and by the time we got to L.A., Eddie owned the plane," Bill Bohan said of his friend of 40 years. "His main features were his sense of humor and that infectious laugh."
O'Toole's laughter punctuated his humorous stories. "He had a brutal cackle," Don Murphy said. "It was contagious, one of a kind. Eddie was a fun-loving person and also very generous. Whenever we did fund-raisers, he was always the first guy to dig into his pocket."
O'Toole's Pub at 902 Nu'uanu Ave. is named after the gregarious Irishman, who came to Hawai'i from Massachusetts in 1942. When Ron Dougherty and Bob Maynard opened their downtown bar 25 years ago, they decided to name it after their friend.
"Eddie never had a financial interest in the bar," Ray Sweeney said. "He and Dougherty were good friends and Ron felt that O'Toole's had a better ring than either Dougherty's or Maynard's."
Current owners Skip Naftel and Ann Fukunaga kept the name.
Although he quit drinking alcohol several years ago, O'Toole visited the pub two or three times a week.
O'Toole's regular seat was at the end of the bar with his back to Nu'uanu Avenue, said Bohan. It was from that spot that he'd tell his stories, many of them gleaned from his experiences as a Honolulu Rapid Transit bus driver.
His favorite was about an unscheduled joy ride down from Maunalani Heights on Wilhelmina Rise.
"He had to take some German prisoners of war who had been held on Sand Island on a bus ride so he took them to the top of (Maunalani Heights)," Bohan said. "When he started back down, his brakes went out. Whenever he hit the flat spots, the bus would (go airborne) and he could hear the Germans shouting 'wunderbar!' "
Open-wheel auto racing was O'Toole's passion. He followed his love for Indy-style racing across America and attended Formula I events in Europe.
O'Toole worked for Honolulu Ford from 1965 until his death. His most recent position was manager of used car reconditioning at the Lagoon Drive lot.
O'Toole is survived by his daughter, Patricia, of Hilo and sister, Shirley Anderson of Massachusetts.
Services are pending.
